Jeremy Ritter, Campus Carrier Staff Writer
Sam Nazione, assistant professor of communication, is currently spearheading the inaugural year of the Networking Club on campus. She wants to give students the opportunity to start creating their professional web of connections.
“Four years isn’t that long,” Nazione said. “Networking isn’t something seniors should do, it’s something everyone should do.”
This new club will serve as a replacement to the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), an organization that the school offers students membership to, but where PRSSA is limited, the Networking Club will branch out.
“The point is to benefit as many students as possible,” Nazione said.
She explained that PRSSA, by nature of its name, seemed to attract mostly upperclassman PR majors. Nazione hopes the more inclusive club, with fewer membership hurdles, will help show off a wider range of Berry students and their even more diverse skill sets to employers that want well rounded employees.
“Internships are how people get jobs,” Nazione said. “You need an internship to get a job.”
In the end, the goal is for students to graduate going into a great job that they will succeed in and enjoy. In the same way that retirement is the goal and saving early is the means to achieve it, entering the workforce with a sturdy foundation, in the right direction, begins with getting a résumé out early.
On top of bringing in speakers, such as representatives from Mercedes Benz, the Networking Club will offer integral opportunities to begin laying the foundation for future success.
The club is also teaming up with Mark Kozera, director of employer development, to put Berry students in front of as many employers as possible. There will be at least four large scale networking trips offered.
“The goal is to bring our students together with alumni, employers, and friends of berry in a business-like setting to work on their networking skills, commence building their networks, and look for first internships and then first destination jobs,” Kozera said.
Located in Atlanta and Rome, these events give students the opportunity to get in front of and meet face to face with employers from large companies, non-profits, and local companies in the Northwest Georgia region. Including over 100 employers, Kozera tries to present a truly unique event.
He and his department work to create a 1:1 ratio of students to employers, giving students connections that they can follow up with later. Agreeing with Nazione, Kozera also believes that students should commence building their network now rather than later.