Student-Athlete Development Hosts Networking Night For Bulldogs, Caps Spring Slate

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State Student-Athlete Development office hosted its largest event of the spring semester in March, inviting all fourth- and fifth-year Bulldogs to attend its annual Networking Night.

The event, which featured 35 employers from throughout the region, provided student-athletes with the opportunity to grow their network and practice engaging with business professionals in the workforce.

"This event is very important because it helps pull together several programs we do throughout the year," Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Development Briana Vaughn said. "Whether they realize it or not, student-athletes are always meeting important people throughout their career, but sometimes, student-athletes don't have the space to sit down, vocalize and articulate who they are, what they are about, where they are from and who they want to be in the future."

Last semester, the Student-Athlete Development office hosted mock interviews, giving Bulldogs the opportunity to gain one-on-one interview experience with more than 40 professionals from across the Southeast. Mock Interviews and Networking Night both fall under the professional development pillar for the program's Life After Sport Initiatives.

This year's Networking Night was entirely virtual. Once organizations logged onto the site, student-athletes could decide who to talk with from a list of all the organizations present. A total of 107 conversations took place during the event.

"I think the kids really got a lot out of the event, and the feedback from employers was really good," Vaughn said. "We even had someone reach out to say that one of our student-athletes was put in contact with the manager of a company to talk about a job. That's amazing. The MSU Career Center really helped us out and helped get the event set up. We were so thankful for their help during this event. If it wasn't for them, I'm not sure how we would have been able to navigate an event as big as Networking Night in a virtual space."

Along with Networking Night, the Student-Athlete Development office has been busy this spring with multiple events. The department opened the semester with Branded a Bulldog, which is a program geared toward providing an opportunity for first-year Bulldogs to learn the art of personal branding. It also wants to help student-athletes recognize that they represent more than just themselves. They represent their university, families, hometowns, teams and so much more.

After that, the office held its programs for Foundations of Leadership, Professional Etiquette and Personal Finance. Foundations of Leadership was created as a means to help student-athletes discover their core values, how these values guide their decision making and learn the characteristics that makes good leaders. Professional Etiquette focuses on preparing Mississippi State's fourth-year student-athletes for the professional world, including attire, job search strategies, resume building, navigating the job market virtually and more. Personal Finance was a three-part mini-series that highlighted budgeting, banking and credit management.

Programs for the spring semester will conclude this month with a discussion about Athletic Identity with student-athletes to talk about their thoughts on life after sports and how they view themselves outside of athletics. The final event will be a makeup program for those who were unable to attend Networking Night due to competitions. The event is called Networking 101 and will teach student-athletes some of the best networking tips and practices.

For the most up-to-date information, follow MSU Student-Athlete Development on Twitter by searching for "HailStateSADev."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Student-Athlete Development Hosts Networking Night For Bulldogs, Caps Spring Slate

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