As a college student, I wake up and fall asleep with only one question on my mind: Am I doing enough? This question stems from the outstanding lack of professional connections I have built for myself over the years.
Just like many others, I was told that as long as I focus on my classes and work really hard to master my field, I’ll earn my place in the workforce. I’ve realized, however, that the modern workforce cares a lot less about what you know and more about who you know.
Building connections seems ideal, and even natural for some people. For others, it can seem like you’re almost begging someone to think highly of you just so they’ll read your resume.
This requirement ultimately strips away individuality and penalizes introverts, first-generation students and anyone who refuses to treat friendships as career stepping stones.
The pressure to network changes the college experience in ways we don’t always recognize. Instead of focusing solely on our education and developing the skills needed for our future careers, students are expected to find ways to make themselves known to the right people.
Suddenly, getting ahead isn’t just about what we learn in the classroom, but also about who notices us outside of it.
This creates an uncomfortable reality where even genuine relationships can start to feel transactional. Conversations become opportunities to impress, and meeting someone new can feel less like making a connection and more like adding another name to a professional list.
This problem also extends far beyond the social pressures in college. Businesses and employers play a significant role in reinforcing the idea that professional success depends on who you know rather than what you bring to the table.
Obviously, corporate America will continue to sell the dream of networking to justify a job market where recent college graduates face a 5.6% unemployment rate, significantly higher than the national average of 4.2%.
Rather than addressing why qualified graduates are struggling to find employment, employers shift responsibility onto students to depend on the people they know to ensure them a stable career.
The most unfortunate part is that even if a student is actively searching for work or trying to build those connections, 80% of available jobs are not even advertised, according to the Career Center at Cornell University. These jobs are referred to as the “hidden job market.”
This means that even qualified graduates may never get the chance to compete for certain positions simply because they lack the personal connections needed to learn those opportunities exist in the first place.
College students should not have to spend their years of education worrying that their hard work will mean little without the right people to recognize it. At what point do we as students stop asking whether we are doing enough and start questioning the system that makes our futures dependent on factors beyond our qualifications?
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