Networking Night Prepares Bulldogs For The Future
February 17, 2022 | Athletics, Student-Athlete Development, Joel Coleman
Mississippi State student-athletes have the chance to get a jumpstart towards a career of choice.
STARKVILLE – Allison Florian was once just a wide-eyed freshman softball player. That was more than five years ago now and the Mississippi State graduate student outfielder has grown a lot since then.
These days, Florian fully realizes softball won't last forever. It's why she's one of many Bulldogs who'll soon be utilizing MSU's Student-Athlete Networking Night to get a potential jumpstart towards a future career.
"We put in a lot of hours with our sports, so we don't always have the schedule to go out of our way to talk to other individuals or potential employers or potential people to hire you," Florian said. "It really means a lot that there are people behind us, who have our back, that are putting in efforts to put us out there to talk to others and lead us on our way outside of Mississippi State."
State's Networking Night is presented by MSU's Student-Athlete Development department. It's set to be held on Monday (Feb. 21) and Tuesday (Feb. 22) in the suites at Davis Wade Stadium.
More than two dozen companies and organizations representing careers of all kinds are slated to be in attendance over the course of the two-night event, giving MSU's student-athletes the chance to learn more about specific fields, or potentially land internships or jobs.
"Ultimately, it's about the opportunity to give them the chance to talk to people," Mississippi State Deputy Athletic Director Ann Carr said. "We want them to learn how to interview with people and make them comfortable talking to someone other than a coach or their best friend in a real-life situation when it's time to get that job."
Networking Night is required for all Mississippi State athletes that are juniors, seniors or graduate students. It's one of many events MSU's Student-Athlete Development office orchestrates.
Other functions throughout the year include seminars and workshops on resume and cover letter creation and the like. All of it has a clear mission.
"It's constantly trying to prepare them for what it's going to be like when they finish school," Carr said. "What does that look like? For some, it's, 'I'm going to graduate school.' For some, it's, 'I'm going to get a job.' How do you make sure they get that, especially when some of our student-athletes are going to school year-round? It's talking to them about, 'Do you have a plan?'"
There is a concerted effort to serve MSU's student-athletes and give them every avenue to find success when the jersey is hung up for good.
Florian has certainly taken advantage of the opportunities Carr's office has provided.
"It means a lot," Florian says of State's Student-Athlete Development efforts. "Being a college athlete coming into college with a scholarship – whether it's to play softball or another sport – that's a big part of your identity. When you get to college, you oftentimes realize there's more to you than maybe you thought. So, you really find who you are and what your interests are outside of your sport. I think Ann Carr and the Student-Athlete Development office does a great job setting up events and involving student-athletes as much as possible to help them find their way and find their careers and find the things they love outside of their sport."
If all goes well, plenty of Bulldogs will find promising chances at some point on one of the two Networking Nights.
Count Florian among the many that are incredibly thankful MSU provides such an opportunity. She certainly isn't alone. As older Bulldog student-athletes get closer to new chapters in their lives, this type of thing gives them a boost and might even open doors they weren't expecting.
"I'm just excited to meet different people," Florian said. "I'm also going to talk to some people where I never thought I'd go into that field. So that's going to be interesting to me as well. I think sometimes, you have this idea of what you want to be when you grow up and you don't know what all is out there. So for me, I'm trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and interview with some companies I've never thought about. So, I'm pretty excited about it."