This is a guest post by Jess Neill. Jess is one of Seth Godin’s lucky summer interns. 
There was a lot of competition for this internship program and just by networking with Seth, I’m sure Jess’s personal brand will never be the same. During the rest of the year she will be studying advertising, new media and English at the University of Georgia in Athens. She loves marketing, books and while she doesn’t exactly know what she is going to do, she would like to make sure it’s relevant to her brand. She describes her personal brand as being fearless, passionate, philanthropic, and effective.
Introduction
Everyday in the classroom I see students who are good students, and that’s all they are. When they go to their professor to ask for a recommendation for this internship or that job, they’ll get a good recommendation. Good recommendations are a dime a dozen, and won’t hold up to competition. What you want is a spectacular recommendation. At then end of the course, you want to have formed a relationship with your professor, keeping in mind that every interaction you have is a chance to reinforce your personal brand.
Here are some tips
Your personal brand starts from day one. Show up to class. On time. Seriously, it will ruin you to be that kid who slams the door ten minutes late on the first lecture.
Participate, but don’t dominate. Professors can see straight through BS; they see enough of it. Every time you comment it should add something other than noise to the class discussion.
Talk to your professors outside of class. But don’t just make up something, give some thought to what they can teach you, and then ask them to. Their job revolves around teaching, so you can safely bet that they enjoy it. Professors are also very busy though, so you’re much less likely to get blown off if you genuinely want to learn. By the end of the class, you should feel that you’ve truly developed a relationship with that professor. And it will pay off, most importantly because they have invaluable knowledge and real world experience. If the human part didn’t matter, the class would be a set of PowerPoints and textbooks. Forming a relationship with your professor also has more physical rewards, as there are often many faculty nominated awards. Forming the first relationship is the hardest, but the second will come easier, since it’s probable that they will have heard of you from the first.
Just keep your personal brand in mind at all times. How do you want them to think of you? What are the first words that you want to hear when they talk about you to someone else?
Be polite, friendly and enthusiastic, and remember that they’re there for more than just giving you a recommendation at the end, and they’ll know if that’s all you’re there for.
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Yea I kinda failed at everything you just mentioned. Now I am backtracking to get the networking that was available for me in college. Luckily, I have jumped in head first and found the influencers early.
If I could do it over again, best believe I would have taken advantage of the relationships you can build in college.
@Greg – I wish I put more energy into networking when I was younger. Now I have to fast track to keep up!
When in doubt… do whatever Jess says. It’s a good rule for life.
Sit near the front—especially if you’re in a large section with a ton of other students. Professors often chat with people in the front few rows as they wait for stragglers.
The tip about meeting with them outside of class is spot on. If you have questions (thoughtful questions), don’t be afraid to ask—they hold office hours for two reasons 1) they’re usually required to by their department and 2) they want to help (not necessarily in that order).
I think you can get a lot of good networking while in college but you can do well outside of academia if that is not where you are most comfortable.
For example, in Austin, I am involved/connected with a lot of people in social media and startups through coworking ventures, and organizations like Social Media Club Austin.
Just because you are in college doesn’t mean you need to limit your networking and connection-building to academia. Explore and connect with the community around your school!
@David – no one can deny that advice
yeah, agree with u that personal branding has to start with a good first time impression
Start a blog. Not a personal diary blog but a professional blog. It can be the best thing to start branding yourself.
I love to sit in the front row during college. The reason is because it helps me focus better than sitting in the back. And the professor will mostly likely remember you!