Reddit reviews Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected

Reddit has a hard-on for STEM - particularly engineering - and loves to denigrate degrees in the arts and humanities.

The thing is that when your diploma says "Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering," everyone has a pretty good idea of what your skill set is and what you had to learn along the way in order to get there. The answer is: probably some programming, good base in math & physics applied to mechanical systems, some thermo, some stats, and experience working on a team to develop a design. Because your degree automatically says this, its easier to rest on your laurels and still get a job at the end of it.

When your degree says "Bachelor of Fine Arts," it says less about your skill set. You probably can play an instrument or two, do some composition, probably some critical analysis of music... Okay, how is that marketable?

It's actually very marketable. BUT! It's up to you to show people what you know. You need to learn how to sell your degree and develop the skills you want to market. Communication, team work, time management, critical thinking, working independently to meet goals, etc.

The thing with a degree like Music is that you need to use your time at the university to develop and demonstrate these high-demand skills. Get involved in clubs, societies, political organizations, non-profits, community work, etc.

Major in something you're good at and interested in. For the first year or two, pursue some extracurricular activities you're interested in. Find a couple that you're really passionate about and feel could lead to something else later. Try to really make a difference in these activities.

Talk to older students about what they're involved in. See what alumni from your program do. When you meet someone who does something you think is interesting, ask them to meet for a cup of coffee so you can learn more about this field. Secret: people love talking about themselves, especially if you're buying a coffee. This, by the way, is called "an informational interview" and is an important part of networking. There are resources elsewhere for how to network, even for people who hate networking.

So yes, if you spend your entire undergraduate career in your room playing the flute and putting in the bare minimum to get a decent grade in your non-performance classes, you're probably going to have a challenging time getting a job. If you use all the resources at your fingertips in undergrad - and honestly I wish I had known how many great opportunities are available for networking & developing real-world skills in undergrad - then you could be a very well marketable prospective employee.

So I'm not in an MBA program yet but I am an introvert and I can recommend a book for you: Networking for People Who Hate Networking (Amazon link). It's a fairly brief but good read.

Introverts in the Church

The Introvert Advantage

The Introverts Way - Living a quiet life...

Introvert Power - Why Your Inner Life is Hidden Strength

Networking for People who hate Networking

There you go. Just a few. Read all of these on Kindle.

I liked this better Networking for People Who Hate Networking. I bought this a while back it has good tips in it for networking for introverts. I was able to go to a large convention and even ask questions to the speaker without feeling over whelmed. It focuses on meeting a few people at a time and taking short breaks to go out side or go to the restroom or your car and just relax for 5-10 mintues.

This book! I haven't read it, but check out the synopsis:

>Devora Zack, an avowed introvert and a successful consultant who speaks to thousands of people every year, found that most networking advice books assume that to succeed you have to become an extrovert. Or at least learn how to fake it. Not at all. There is another way.

>This book shatters stereotypes about people who dislike networking. They’re not shy or misanthropic. Rather, they tend to be reflective—they think before they talk. They focus intensely on a few things rather than broadly on a lot of things. And they need time alone to recharge. Because they’ve been told networking is all about small talk, big numbers and constant contact, they assume it’s not for them.

>But it is! Zack politely examines and then smashes to tiny fragments the “dusty old rules” of standard networking advice. She shows how the very traits that ordinarily make people networking-averse can be harnessed to forge an approach that is just as effective as more traditional approaches, if not better. And she applies it to all kinds of situations, not just formal networking events. After all, as she says, life is just one big networking opportunity—a notion readers can now embrace.

I know you said you are shy, but it sounds like a lot of the information in there will still apply to you. One of the reviews was even titled "Great for the shy".

You can also Google "networking for introverts" and "networking for shy people" - I just tried and came up with a lot of articles for both. There are heaps of people in the same position as you, and there seems to be a lot of help available these days. Good luck!