Today, we started our morning with a talk from guest speaker Rob Cullen. Mr. Cullen shared with us the importance of networking and some tips and tricks to make more effective and meaningful connections in our careers. Some universal networking techniques include starting with a handshake and being able to fire off a quick elevator pitch. However, something that I learned from Rob was the Irish’s intent to find a common interest when networking. Rob and I did a short exercise where he tried to find a common interest between us and found that we both have ties to the soccer club, Manchester City and were both wearing green trousers. He explained that this is an interesting way to remember someone who you may have met at a networking event and something that I will use in the future. I also learned some beneficial ways to wear a nametag professionally.

Speaking of networking events, since many of these events have been moved to a virtual setting over the course of the pandemic. Many people have lost their “mojo” when it comes to networking. This session with Mr. Cullen served as a great refresher for me personally to be more confident in future networking opportunities. In a positive spin, virtual networking events are still around in some capacity and allow users to make global connections that they may have not been able to otherwise due to location constraints.

Later in the day we powered through some rain to visit Auxilion, a consulting and IT services company. The team presented to us about some of the work that they do and then we toured the office. Auxilion is a long lasting company, having recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. As technology has evolved over time Auxilion has made strides to adapt to innovations in both technology and the landscape of working, switching to a hybrid approach and renovating their office space to encourage return to the office. One thing that stuck out to me was Auxilion’s focus on people within the company. Throughout our time in Dublin, all the companies that we have visited harped on the importance of finding the right talent for the job, such as I wrote about yesterday about Google. Auxilion shoots for the same goals and I believe that this focus on the human element of business is the most important contribution to their continued success.