Focus on people. Work with people you respect and who respect you. Work with people who can teach you and who want to teach you. Work with people who will listen to you and who will learn from you.
I hate to think of ‘networking’ as a chore. Rather, I love meeting folks who are passionate about their work and I always offer to help or connect people. This allows me to stay in touch with lots of the movers and shakers I meet along the way and enables me to then make connections for my company as they come up.
Meet Columbia alumni and talk with them because even if they can’t offer you a job in the field you want they will have great insights or ideas that can help you in your job search process.
Having a degree from one of the best universities in the world is amazing, but I learned a lot going through experiences where economic circumstances made those degrees less valuable from people who didn’t have the opportunities you can take for granted as a Columbia alum.
Growing companies have more problems than they do people. The better you are at finding resourceful solutions, the more problems you will be entrusted with, the faster you can learn and grow.
Be sure to explore all the on campus opportunities such as CCE, Handshake, career fairs, and info sessions. It is also helpful to connect to alumni from linkedin if you want to learn more about the culture and project of the company.