It is never too early to start planning for the future. Networking is a great place to start when it comes to internships and careers.

According to Forbes Magazine writer Glenn Llopis, “If you are strategic and view networking through an opportunity lens, it can serve as a powerful professional development boot camp experience.”     Connecting the Dots is a networking opportunity that gets a jump start on planning for your career.

On Nov. 2 the alumni office hosted the Connecting the Dots event for the students at Wilkes University. This event is designed for students to meet with alumni who are experts in their respected fields. Approximately 20 alumni come back for this event to spread their knowledge to Wilkes students.

There were groups set up for certain majors including engineering, communication studies, psychology, nursing/medical, business, education and political science/law.

When the students entered the event, they went to the group that corresponded to their major. After 45 minutes, the students were then able to move to another group that interested them and converse with those alumni.

“It allows the students to network but also have their best interests at heart,” Jacqueline Lukas, manager of alumni relations and advancement special projects. Connecting the Dots truly students to get their name out to professionals.

Connecting the Dots is an event that is open for all students.

“Anyone can come and network and really show their stuff,” Lukas said.

Most of the attending students are juniors and seniors. Some freshmen and sophomores were also present.

“It’s never too early or too late to start networking,” Lukas said.

This event has been a tradition for several years at Wilkes. Events such as this truly set in stone one of the aspects Wilkes University relays to its community. Wilkes makes clear one of its top values is “Nurturing individuals to understand and act on their abilities while challenging them to achieve great things.”

There were various prizes for those who attended the Connecting the Dots event. The prizes included T-shirts and business card holders. To top off the evening, there was a raffle and the winner received $50 in dining dollars.

Even though Connecting the Dots is a once-a-year event that takes place every Fall semester, there are other events that are similar to this event. These events are often geared to a particular major, such as psychology or engineering. 

Even though these events revolve around one major, they still provide many opportunities for students to take advantage of.

“We do have other mentoring events that we do throughout the year. The alumni office specifically works with faculty members to have those mentoring events,” Lukas said.

Lukas said she highly recommends students use these mentoring opportunities to further their future.

“I got my job (at Wilke) because I had an internship with a woman here. It is your skills but also those connections you have,” Lukas said.

For any questions about the future Connecting the Dots events or other events that provide mentoring opportunities, please contact the Wilkes University alumni office at [email protected] or at 570-408-7787.