“Communication is key.” We hear this all the time, particularly when it comes to romantic relationships. You can’t have a healthy, successful relationship with someone if you do not communicate with each other and vice versa. Yet, one might be surprised to see how many people don’t have good communication skills and how many people do not think of the value communication has outside of romance.
For the most part, we all spend a good amount of time with other people, be it in our classes, clubs, workplace, dorm, or anywhere else. While we’re at these places, communication is vital to our success and overall ability to maintain all kinds of relationships. Think about it: How many relationships can you say are thriving without communication? The answer is few to none. Proper and well-established communication can make all the difference when having a disagreement with your roommate, an argument between teammates, and even in the decision-making process of getting hired or fired from a job.
A piece of advice nearly all my professors provide at the beginning of the semester is to talk to your classmates and build relationships with them. Why? To help each other out. To have someone to go to when you missed class and need notes. To know someone you can study with or have someone to explain a confusing concept to you. It’s safe to say that making some friends in the classroom has its benefits, even for those who don’t necessarily enjoy interacting with other people. But let’s take this beyond the classroom. Your classmates can ultimately change your life. You don’t which one of them is going to be working for some major corporation or land your dream job. It may sound overplayed or cheesy, but you could be going to class with the next Supreme Court Justice or CEO of a top fortune 500 company. These connections you make in class can add something to your career that your resume can’t do for you. But you won’t make these connections unless you communicate with your peers. If they don’t know who you are, what you’re good at, what you bring to the table, how would they know to think of you when their company is looking for someone new? Why would they do you the favor of getting you an interview if you’ve never acknowledged them before?
“It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know.” Yet another line we hear quite often. How many times have you ever felt so confident in your skills and abilities for a certain position only to be filled with disappointment when you don’t get chosen? In the case where you’re applying for a job at some huge company or place you’ve never worked, you may never find out who was hired over you. But in cases of on campus jobs, or other kinds of positions in places where you are already involved, it’s likely that you will see the person who was chosen over you. Sometimes you’ll see them and think, “How did they get that position over me?” The answer: They knew a guy. In the world we live in, people like to hire their friends or people they can relate to. There are many cases in which a person in a position of power would much rather hire someone they know well, trust, or feel comfortable with over someone who may come off as highly qualified but they do not know. This can be unfortunate for those who truly are qualified and deserve a certain position, but let’s be real: if it were you who had the connection and got the job, you’d be ecstatic.
I myself have been applying to internships online and have yet to hear back from most and have received rejections from others. Recently, I was able to apply to a couple of internships through people I know, and I heard back about an interview within 2 weeks. It’s not a guaranteed position of course, but I know my chances are far higher than with the companies I found online, which only attests to the importance of building relationships with the people around you. I honestly hadn’t even thought of applying to this company, but someone I knew from there offered to pass along my resume and boom, interview. Sometimes it’s just that simple.
If we look at this from a moral standpoint, building relationships and communicating with the people around isn’t just about what others have to offer you, but what you can offer to others as well. You never know how you can be making someone’s day or even altering their life. Maybe that classmate who asked to borrow your notes missed class to study for another class they’re stressed over (which happens more often than you’d think). Maybe that club member of yours who just asked you to put in the good word for them at your job could really use the money to pay off school. Maybe that person you sat next to and said hello to, really needed a friend. Of course, it’s nice to know you’ll get a job because you have a friend there or something to that extent, but when you’re making these connections and building relationships, remember that they’re people too. Even in cases where you’re networking for the exact purpose of finding a job, the people you meet know why you’re there and what you’re looking for, but they want to know what you can offer them as well.
Communication can and will make all the difference in any kind of interaction in your life. You will have stronger relationships with your friends, coworkers, bosses, and professors. My college experience is vastly improved because of the relationships I have built with the people I am surrounded by every day. It is truly amazing how much one person can make a difference in your life and vice versa. Never underestimate the power of relationships. You have countless opportunities waiting for you through all the people around you. Your life, along with someone else’s can be drastically changed, and it all starts with hello.
