Importance Of Networking Inside and Outside College? | Alekhya, Brand Manager- Nestle, Vivel, ITC | Dove, Unilever | Emami | MakeMyTrip

When one decides to embark on their B-School journey, they have their set of reasons. These reasons can range anywhere from needed a break from working, wanted to expand horizons to wanting to learn more. It is a popular belief that most people opt for an MBA because of the networking opportunities that it brings with itself, making it one of those well kept yet well-known secrets.

Alekhya Chakrabarty talks about how he used his networking skills at and beyond his B-School journey. He starts by talking about how important is networking when he was on Campus for the duration of his MBA.

He says that, for the 22 odd months that one spends on Campus, get out of your comfort zone! Your Comfort Zone should be a tiny speck from where you are looking. At least, for the 22 months. We as humans have formed a structure to the society where natural segregation happens at the community level. Where commonalities groups a set of individuals together. We are biologically predisposed to interact with the person who speaks the same language as us.

Make a conscious effort to go against this instinct. Interact with people from not only your background, personal or professional. You have a golden opportunity to interact with 500 odd individuals. These are the top 1 % of your population. And you have the chance to interact with them. A wise man once said, if 2 people meet with 1 idea each, they both will leave with 2 ideas each! Interaction with a diverse set of people will help you broaden your spectrum of thoughts.

This expansion in views and thinking happens on a professional front as well as a personal front. It makes you a better student manager, later on, a better professional manager and in turn a Global Citizen! The importance cannot be stressed upon enough, especially for Sales and Marketing.

To sum it up Alekhya says that, what you get in B-Schools is different point of views. That is very important for you too. It helps you broaden your horizon as a manager. It holds you in a good position when you go out in the industry and present yourself as a professional.

While discussing views and expanding horizons one cannot miss out on the fact that different people come with different views. Alekhya asserts that there is no absolute right or wrong answer in Sales and Marketing. It's only about the correct call that you take after looking at all the options. And you cannot get into a position of looking at all the options unless you have different points of view.

He re-iterates himself by saying that getting to that zone and the importance of networking cannot be lightened off.

Having stressed upon the importance of networking, he also cautions against forcing yourself to network. Going through the motions as if it were a task that needed completing. Be organic about it. Because it's apparent and negates the whole process.

Alekhya, having discussed the importance of networking in B-School, comes to talk about networking in the professional circle. He starts by talking about how networking in professional life is not just limited to online mediums. LinkedIn is the new Facebook but for professionals.

How you network within your own organization or with the people you interact with, from different professions, matters a lot. This goes to show that networking, thought partnership and collaboration is still a very human process. This has to have the human touch, a face to face conversation and brainstorming. Internet and technology can disrupt many fields but not that of true networking!

In conclusion, Alekhya says, yes, it's extremely important both as a student manager in the 20 odd months that you have spent on campus and even on a continuous basis as a professional. Networking is extremely important.