Bridge Building Speed-dating
Bridge Building has been an on-going process for a month and a half. When I originally signed up, I was most excited about the personality test aspect and I have already written about that experience. However, the thing that I by-far feared the most was the networking opportunity, which included "speed-dating" with a whole group of companies. It would be the final puzzle piece in the experience to build a bridge from academia to the business world. I thought it would be horrible but it went surprisingly well and I am so thankful for the people who arranged this whole process.
I'm not the person who walks up to someone I don't and just start talking to them. I don't think I'll ever be that person, though I suppose that I should never say never. I find it immensely intimidating to speak to people I don't know and especially "adults". Notice the quotation marks because I know that I would technically be considered an adult as well, even if I don't feel like one a lot of the time. Spoiler alert: "real" grown-ups don't feel like that either. We're all just stumbling through life, gaining skills and experiences of course, but I doubt many ever feel truly "grown-up". Wouldn't it be a boring life if they did stop growing as a person? I know the phrase most likely refers to physical growth but I do wholeheartedly believe that humans should strive to keep growing as people, not matter how old they get.
I think this experience showed me that these "scary" adults with full time jobs weren't so scary after all. These were adult people who had been working in businesses for a long time. A lot of them had children. A lot of them had prestigious job titles. But they were still all just human beings. A woman from the Danish navy had brought her very small baby, with a sitter, along because she needed to breastfeed her child. It humbled me that this badass military woman was a new mother and yet she still showed up to this event.
It was a four-hour event and I'm just so grateful that 14 companies wanted to send a representative. Or in fact, I should rephrase that because these people were doing this with their personal time. They were spending their own time to come to talk to us, a group of students, to help us and provide feedback on our elevator pitches.
The evening started out with an introduction from the main consultant who has been running the process and then one of my professors, standing in for the woman who is course coordination, introduced all of the companies to the profile of my Master degree. Next came the intimidating part of introducing yourself with two interesting facts. I chose to say that I'm a dressage rider and that my mind is very structured, so it naturally picks up on a lot of details and try to sort them into the most efficient way of doing something. It was slightly terrifying to speak in front of a crowd like that, standing up from your seat and all, but it was over quite quickly.
Next up, it was the companies' turn to present themselves and they got only two minutes for that, which was a bit of a struggle for some of them to stick to but it was so interesting to hear about what the different companies were doing. You could tell that some of them were more comfortable doing a presentation while others fumbled a bit more but again, they're just people like us. I had researched the five different companies I had assigned to "speed-date" but I hadn't done any in-depth research on the other companies, so this presentation segment was really helpful. In fact, I ended up talking to one more person who wasn't in my assigned five because too few students showed up. I won't even start speaking about how disrespectful I think that is of my fellow students.
I had begun the day with a late start after a good night's sleep and I had a calm feeling during the drive to university, where I had an exercise class before the bridge building event in the evening. I think it was good that I prioritised that late start instead of going to work for a couple of hours because I managed to not drain my social battery completely when the event finished at 8 PM.
After all the presentations, we moved onto the main speed-dating event where students would circulate between the different tables where the companies had been put up. I got to talk to someone from an sustainable energy company, the Danish navy, a digital start-up company, a creative media business, a software company and an educational institution. It was a nice variety and I didn't end up giving quite the same elevator pitch to everyone, especially since I did around half of them in Danish since the representatives from the companies were Danish as well and they seemed more comfortable talking like that.
It did mean that I had to say what I wanted to in a language that I hadn't rehearsed it in but thankfully, I can think quite fast on my feet in that regard and I think it quite worked out to my advantage because switching to a language that I hadn't prepared meant that I slowed down a bit. I always speak way too fast when I know that I'm on the clock and I have a lot of things to say (and I usually have a lot of things to say). One thing that several of the people liked was the fact that when I said which orientation of the Masters I had, I explained why I like the culture perspective so much and why it's so useful. That approach was highly praised, even at the evaluation at the end. I'm happy to hear it because I thought it would be a nice touch since no one ever knows what my education actually means because it doesn't grant me a job title when I finish.
At the last of my sessions, I mentioned that I had perfectionistic tendencies because the person before had picked up on that by my pitch without me mentioning the word (or at least I assume so since she said that I needed to know that 90% is good enough). But mentioning being perfectionistic led to an interesting conversation because the woman in front of me said that it sounded like I was putting myself down and she asked why I had chosen to mention being a perfectionist at all. When I explained that it was because I thought it was important, because it enhances my attention to detail, but that I also know it can tip over and make me too-obsessed with something, she really liked my reasoning and said that I should include that reasoning in the pitch.
All of them also seemed to like how I tied being a dressage rider into my pitch and creating a story around it. I do actually very much believe in the story I was telling. I didn't compete on the level that many other riders did but I still did a few in my younger years and I remember that feeling of finding my calm before entering, for both Money's and my own benefit. And I'm sure it has transferred to how I handle exams, and oral exams in particular where you're sent in to perform for just a short period. It also tied nicely into my need to be prepared before entering a situation. Preparation will get you very far, even if you obviously need to be able to tackle the challenges that will arise in the moment. But you can definitely minimise them with preparation. Like I usually say, luck follow the hard-working.
The feedback varied a bit from person to person, though all of them seemed very impressed with the different student jobs I have, even if one of them also picked up that it seemed like I was doing almost too much. And it is something that I need to be careful of and I need to remember to look after myself and not have too many things flying around my ears. If it becomes too much, then I won't be able to do juggle anything at all because I will have an overwhelming need to press my hands over my ears.
However, one feedback session was starkly different from the others and that was with the guy who had a lot of experience doing start-ups. He's made six through the years and currently four of them are still alive, which is pretty good statistics for that world. I'm so happy that I got to talk to him because he approached the experience differently from the other people. He listened to the elevator pitch but he didn't really want to talk about that part. He wanted to know what I love to do. And it took me a little prompting but I told him about my writing and he just lit up. I guess that I forget that most people who are a full-time student, and working beside it, do not sit down in the evenings to craft entire novels and post them online. Obviously, his advice and point of view comes from someone who has been quite successful and part lucky as well but I still felt a bit shaken - in a good way - by his sheer optimism. When I told him that I set a goal to write something every single day, he gave me a literal thumbs up and said that's the way to go. He also reminded me of how self-publishing is always an option, even if you can't get any publisher to accept what you wrote. According to him, I was ahead as opposed to my fellow students, even before I mentioned the writing thing, because I didn't just do the elevator pitch with my competencies and then expect someone to give me a job.
I'm still not sure what I want to do, which is probably more normal at 23 than people realise, or want to admit. But through the years, I know I've started to paint this imaginary picture in my mind where I'm able to work with more flexible hours and combine a lot of the different stuff that I like. I love writing and making up fictional universes so much and I cannot see letting that go at any point but I'm still scared to try to get anything "properly" published. But maybe it isn't so insane to think that maybe it could happen. (Notice all the maybes in the previous sentence? Clearly, my confidence still needs a little work). However, my education and all that I have learnt isn't something to "fall back on" in my head, like someone might say if their creative endeavour doesn't work out. I love my study and how it has taught me to see the world and I would love to help other people understand what I know, whether that be by working in an organisation with their culture, as a consultant trying help someone communicate better or teaching students understand just how important language and culture is in the business world. And at the same time, I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave university completely behind but I'm holding off on making any decisions in that regard before I know how I can tackle my thesis but still.
I want to build a life for myself that is full of all the stuff that I love to do and I'm still not sure how that looks like, not exactly, but I'm learning a lot of things that I don't want to work with and that's a way of gradually narrowing down the field. I'm not sure if I could be happy in a normal strict "9-5" job. I'm not sure I want to work in huge global organisations where bureaucracy limits creativity. I don't know anything for certain yet but I feel like I'm getting closer to figuring out where I might fit in this business world.
And to have someone encourage the idea that the "hobby" of writing stories, which I've been nurturing for several years, could actually be something more real is hugely comforting. It has my mind spinning, even if I can still feel the restrictions telling me how hardly any writers succeed. However, if I'm not planning on writing to be my sole source of income then it also takes a lot of the pressure off.
But in any regard, I have learnt so much through all of this bridge building process from the two consultants running it to all the companies who has graciously lent us their time and expertise. I get why they do it because while we get access to feedback from experienced people, they also get access to engaged and intelligent students. In the future, students will be looking for jobs and companies will need workers and it's in everyone's best interest that the match actually fits so that the new employee can flourish and create value for the company while being happy. I still have over a year left of my Master but this whole experience made the job market seem a little less intimidating.
I'm not the person who walks up to someone I don't and just start talking to them. I don't think I'll ever be that person, though I suppose that I should never say never. I find it immensely intimidating to speak to people I don't know and especially "adults". Notice the quotation marks because I know that I would technically be considered an adult as well, even if I don't feel like one a lot of the time. Spoiler alert: "real" grown-ups don't feel like that either. We're all just stumbling through life, gaining skills and experiences of course, but I doubt many ever feel truly "grown-up". Wouldn't it be a boring life if they did stop growing as a person? I know the phrase most likely refers to physical growth but I do wholeheartedly believe that humans should strive to keep growing as people, not matter how old they get.
I think this experience showed me that these "scary" adults with full time jobs weren't so scary after all. These were adult people who had been working in businesses for a long time. A lot of them had children. A lot of them had prestigious job titles. But they were still all just human beings. A woman from the Danish navy had brought her very small baby, with a sitter, along because she needed to breastfeed her child. It humbled me that this badass military woman was a new mother and yet she still showed up to this event.
It was a four-hour event and I'm just so grateful that 14 companies wanted to send a representative. Or in fact, I should rephrase that because these people were doing this with their personal time. They were spending their own time to come to talk to us, a group of students, to help us and provide feedback on our elevator pitches.
The evening started out with an introduction from the main consultant who has been running the process and then one of my professors, standing in for the woman who is course coordination, introduced all of the companies to the profile of my Master degree. Next came the intimidating part of introducing yourself with two interesting facts. I chose to say that I'm a dressage rider and that my mind is very structured, so it naturally picks up on a lot of details and try to sort them into the most efficient way of doing something. It was slightly terrifying to speak in front of a crowd like that, standing up from your seat and all, but it was over quite quickly.
Next up, it was the companies' turn to present themselves and they got only two minutes for that, which was a bit of a struggle for some of them to stick to but it was so interesting to hear about what the different companies were doing. You could tell that some of them were more comfortable doing a presentation while others fumbled a bit more but again, they're just people like us. I had researched the five different companies I had assigned to "speed-date" but I hadn't done any in-depth research on the other companies, so this presentation segment was really helpful. In fact, I ended up talking to one more person who wasn't in my assigned five because too few students showed up. I won't even start speaking about how disrespectful I think that is of my fellow students.
I had begun the day with a late start after a good night's sleep and I had a calm feeling during the drive to university, where I had an exercise class before the bridge building event in the evening. I think it was good that I prioritised that late start instead of going to work for a couple of hours because I managed to not drain my social battery completely when the event finished at 8 PM.
After all the presentations, we moved onto the main speed-dating event where students would circulate between the different tables where the companies had been put up. I got to talk to someone from an sustainable energy company, the Danish navy, a digital start-up company, a creative media business, a software company and an educational institution. It was a nice variety and I didn't end up giving quite the same elevator pitch to everyone, especially since I did around half of them in Danish since the representatives from the companies were Danish as well and they seemed more comfortable talking like that.
It did mean that I had to say what I wanted to in a language that I hadn't rehearsed it in but thankfully, I can think quite fast on my feet in that regard and I think it quite worked out to my advantage because switching to a language that I hadn't prepared meant that I slowed down a bit. I always speak way too fast when I know that I'm on the clock and I have a lot of things to say (and I usually have a lot of things to say). One thing that several of the people liked was the fact that when I said which orientation of the Masters I had, I explained why I like the culture perspective so much and why it's so useful. That approach was highly praised, even at the evaluation at the end. I'm happy to hear it because I thought it would be a nice touch since no one ever knows what my education actually means because it doesn't grant me a job title when I finish.
At the last of my sessions, I mentioned that I had perfectionistic tendencies because the person before had picked up on that by my pitch without me mentioning the word (or at least I assume so since she said that I needed to know that 90% is good enough). But mentioning being perfectionistic led to an interesting conversation because the woman in front of me said that it sounded like I was putting myself down and she asked why I had chosen to mention being a perfectionist at all. When I explained that it was because I thought it was important, because it enhances my attention to detail, but that I also know it can tip over and make me too-obsessed with something, she really liked my reasoning and said that I should include that reasoning in the pitch.
All of them also seemed to like how I tied being a dressage rider into my pitch and creating a story around it. I do actually very much believe in the story I was telling. I didn't compete on the level that many other riders did but I still did a few in my younger years and I remember that feeling of finding my calm before entering, for both Money's and my own benefit. And I'm sure it has transferred to how I handle exams, and oral exams in particular where you're sent in to perform for just a short period. It also tied nicely into my need to be prepared before entering a situation. Preparation will get you very far, even if you obviously need to be able to tackle the challenges that will arise in the moment. But you can definitely minimise them with preparation. Like I usually say, luck follow the hard-working.
The feedback varied a bit from person to person, though all of them seemed very impressed with the different student jobs I have, even if one of them also picked up that it seemed like I was doing almost too much. And it is something that I need to be careful of and I need to remember to look after myself and not have too many things flying around my ears. If it becomes too much, then I won't be able to do juggle anything at all because I will have an overwhelming need to press my hands over my ears.
However, one feedback session was starkly different from the others and that was with the guy who had a lot of experience doing start-ups. He's made six through the years and currently four of them are still alive, which is pretty good statistics for that world. I'm so happy that I got to talk to him because he approached the experience differently from the other people. He listened to the elevator pitch but he didn't really want to talk about that part. He wanted to know what I love to do. And it took me a little prompting but I told him about my writing and he just lit up. I guess that I forget that most people who are a full-time student, and working beside it, do not sit down in the evenings to craft entire novels and post them online. Obviously, his advice and point of view comes from someone who has been quite successful and part lucky as well but I still felt a bit shaken - in a good way - by his sheer optimism. When I told him that I set a goal to write something every single day, he gave me a literal thumbs up and said that's the way to go. He also reminded me of how self-publishing is always an option, even if you can't get any publisher to accept what you wrote. According to him, I was ahead as opposed to my fellow students, even before I mentioned the writing thing, because I didn't just do the elevator pitch with my competencies and then expect someone to give me a job.
I'm still not sure what I want to do, which is probably more normal at 23 than people realise, or want to admit. But through the years, I know I've started to paint this imaginary picture in my mind where I'm able to work with more flexible hours and combine a lot of the different stuff that I like. I love writing and making up fictional universes so much and I cannot see letting that go at any point but I'm still scared to try to get anything "properly" published. But maybe it isn't so insane to think that maybe it could happen. (Notice all the maybes in the previous sentence? Clearly, my confidence still needs a little work). However, my education and all that I have learnt isn't something to "fall back on" in my head, like someone might say if their creative endeavour doesn't work out. I love my study and how it has taught me to see the world and I would love to help other people understand what I know, whether that be by working in an organisation with their culture, as a consultant trying help someone communicate better or teaching students understand just how important language and culture is in the business world. And at the same time, I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave university completely behind but I'm holding off on making any decisions in that regard before I know how I can tackle my thesis but still.
I want to build a life for myself that is full of all the stuff that I love to do and I'm still not sure how that looks like, not exactly, but I'm learning a lot of things that I don't want to work with and that's a way of gradually narrowing down the field. I'm not sure if I could be happy in a normal strict "9-5" job. I'm not sure I want to work in huge global organisations where bureaucracy limits creativity. I don't know anything for certain yet but I feel like I'm getting closer to figuring out where I might fit in this business world.
And to have someone encourage the idea that the "hobby" of writing stories, which I've been nurturing for several years, could actually be something more real is hugely comforting. It has my mind spinning, even if I can still feel the restrictions telling me how hardly any writers succeed. However, if I'm not planning on writing to be my sole source of income then it also takes a lot of the pressure off.
But in any regard, I have learnt so much through all of this bridge building process from the two consultants running it to all the companies who has graciously lent us their time and expertise. I get why they do it because while we get access to feedback from experienced people, they also get access to engaged and intelligent students. In the future, students will be looking for jobs and companies will need workers and it's in everyone's best interest that the match actually fits so that the new employee can flourish and create value for the company while being happy. I still have over a year left of my Master but this whole experience made the job market seem a little less intimidating.
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