The Best Career Advice I Didn’t Understand At 18: Lyndsey Dixon

When you hear the word networking, what comes to mind?

For many students, it’s attending career fairs, collecting business cards, or adding people on LinkedIn. While those things certainly have their place, I’ve learned that networking is really about something much simpler: building genuine relationships.

I didn’t always understand that.

I was one of the first people in my family to attend a large university and definitely the first to join a sorority at The University of Alabama. To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing, and I’m still amazed they let me in.

When I came home for Christmas break my freshman year, my stepdad asked me about my sorority sisters.

I started naming them.

He interrupted me.

“No,” he said. “What do their parents do?”

I just looked at him. I had no idea.

Then he said something I’ll never forget:

“We’re not paying for you to go up there and party. We’re paying for you to build a network.”

At eighteen years old, I didn’t fully understand what he meant.

Fast forward several years.

When I was preparing for my interview at Wilkins Miller, I did what I hope every candidate does—I researched the firm. As I looked through the partner profiles, I realized one of the partners had a daughter who had been one of my sorority sisters at Alabama.

During my interview, I mentioned that connection.

Did that get me the job? Of course not.

But it did something just as valuable. It instantly gave us common ground. Instead of being complete strangers sitting across a conference table, we had a shared connection that made the conversation more natural.

That’s when my stepdad’s advice finally clicked.

Networking isn’t about collecting contacts. It’s about building relationships before you need them.

As students, you’re already surrounded by opportunities to do that. Your classmates, professors, student organizations, internship supervisors, and recruiters are all people you’ll likely cross paths with again throughout your career. Some may become coworkers, mentors, clients, or even lifelong friends.

The key is to be genuine. Be curious about other people. Ask questions. Stay in touch. Celebrate others’ successes. Don’t think about relationships only in terms of what they can do for you. The strongest professional networks are built on authenticity and mutual respect.

Looking back over my career, many of the opportunities I’ve had—joining Wilkins Miller, serving on nonprofit boards, speaking at conferences, and developing client relationships—can all be traced back to people I’ve met along the way. Those opportunities didn’t happen because I was intentionally “networking.” They happened because I invested in relationships.

So my advice is simple: start building your network now—not because you’re looking for your next opportunity, but because one day, an opportunity may find you.

And when it does, you’ll be glad you invested in relationships long before you needed them.

Your network isn’t measured by the number of people who know your name. It’s measured by the quality of the relationships you build over time.