Experiential / Reality-based Learning / September 26, 2016

The QUEST for a Better Way to Network

The QUEST for a Better Way to Network

Smith student Philip Peker ’18 writes about Networking Night for the undergraduate students in the QUEST Honors Program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Hailed as one of the most prestigious honors programs at the University of Maryland, the QUEST Honors Program hosted the QUEST Corporate Networking Event on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016. QUEST is a multidisciplinary, hands-on program for University of Maryland undergraduates from three participating schools: the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the Clark School of Engineering, and the College of Computer, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences. The program focuses on developing skills in quality management, process improvement, and system design through teamwork and co-curricular programming.

What set this networking evening apart from the regular ones Smith hosts is that no resume was required; in fact, having a resume was discouraged and companies were instead sent a book of student resumes prior to the event. This networking night centered on something many other events overlook: human interaction. QUEST students are expected to already have the smarts, ambition, and grades, so employers were not interested in these metrics. They wanted to know the personalities and characters behind the resumes. Many of the recruiters and employers present were QUEST alumni, and they were fully supportive of the idea of a no-resume approach to networking.

“Stay away from your resume. If I’m recruiting, and you’re a student, and the first thing you do when you walk over to me is hand me your resume, I’ll turn you right around,” says Ilan Gold, systems engineer at Leidos, recent alumnus of QUEST, and founder of QUEST Corporate, the organization within QUEST that puts on events like this Networking Night.

QUEST student Jordan Litter is leading the way for students to achieve their dreams in business, technology, design, engineering, and beyond. She’s a senior marketing major and co-president of QUEST Corporate, together with Brayan Varghese, a junior aerospace engineering major. Both Jordan and Brayan play the role of “matchmaker” between companies and QUEST students, helping students find their dream job, and employers, their dream student.

“In QUEST, I get to talk to students from all types of majors. I get exposed to different viewpoints and ideas, and it makes me a more well-rounded business professional. Now, when I’m working on a product idea, I don’t just think like a marketing major would. I consider the perspective of an engineering student, a computer science student, an accounting student. The interdisciplinary focus of QUEST is really amazing,” says QUEST student, marketing major, and future entrepreneur, Jordan Steiner.

QUEST’s unique, yet effective approach to networking is the type of mindset the program attempts to project to its students. Be different, be bold, but most importantly, be you. At the end of the day, it should be a given that you have certain technical skills, but can you communicate the solution to a complex problem? Can you act and dress in a professional manner? Can you pitch the best elevator pitch a client has ever seen? Can you be memorable, stand out, and leave a mark as an individual? These are some of the many things the QUEST program is looking to teach students.

For more information about QUEST, visit: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/quest.

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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

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