“It is not what you know or who you know, it’s who knows you.” Guest speaker, Rob Cullen, gave an excellent session on the fundamentals of networking. He taught us that networking is not as nerve-wracking as most of us perceive it, rather it is a great way to get our names out their and take our careers to the next level. While he was speaking, I started to wonder how networking differs depending on the country. For Ireland, and Dublin specifically, it seems that “everyone knows everyone” due to the small size of the country. I know this is not the case in the United States, as our population is 66 times greater than Ireland. However, Dublin is extremely culturally diverse with around 30% of the population being born outside of Ireland. This opens up the network of Ireland workers internationally. Cullen also emphasized that COVID-19 has shifted the norms of networking tremendously. Online webinars, meetings, and other virtual communication mediums had low interest and attendance. Connecting online can be quite awkward to be honest. You cannot accurately interpret body language and facial cues like you could in person. It just isn’t as genuine. However, there are some positive impacts from COVID as well. Now that lockdowns are *hopefully* over and we transition to in-person again, it has given the opportunity for people to re-connect. Moving forward, I will correlate niche topics and interests with the person I have connected with so that I know who they are, and I will properly wear my name badge!

Additionally, the visit to Auxilion proved to be valuable as they have just celebrated their 25th year as a business. Working in IT can be challenging as technology is constantly innovating. As technology as grown, Auxilion has grown with it. Similar to Microsoft, Auxilion has a strong growth mindset, striving to achieve and advance their target earnings each year. This mindset has allowed them to maintain their success.