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In a world where it’s not “what you know, but who you know,” third-year marketing student Ellie Cartwright sips on her third oat latte of the day, claiming, “I’m playing life while life is playing you.”
The third latte involves some overly eager nodding at an acquaintance who just landed a “dream internship” at their cousin’s private equity firm. “This is what uni is really about,” Ellie says confidently, waving away a notification from her course group chat reminding her about an upcoming exam.
Ellie describes her persona as one that “doesn’t synthesize with formal learning structures.” Instead, she dedicates her academic efforts to pursuits of “professional networking” in the form of coffee dates with anyone who has remotely been part of the workforce.
“I’m investing in my future,” she explains while casually texting another friend who works one day a week as a paralegal. She reminds us, “They say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And I know at least five people who have LinkedIn profiles.”
Ellie’s approach has received mixed reviews from her classmates. Some admire her enthusiasm, while others question her motives, as the last five networking meetings have all been riddled with idle gossip and vague promises to “collaborate soon.”
Her professors, however, are less impressed. Dr. Sarah McCarthy, a lecturer in marketing communication, noted Ellie’s absence from almost every tutorial and lecture this semester. “Ellie is adamant about staying present in the real world of networking instead of being cooped up in class, but when called upon to provide a summary of her industry connections, she sent me the Instagram handle of a part-time barista at Harry’s Bondi,” Dr. McCarthy said, crossing her arms.
Despite some of the negativity, Ellie remains unbothered. “I’m playing checkers while others are playing chess,” she said while reloading her LinkedIn page for the third time. “Grades are temporary, but a solid coffee order with a future hiring manager? That’s eternal.”
While she hasn’t landed an internship just yet, she has showcased great consistency—in the form of her numerous filled-out loyalty cards from local cafes. Ellie’s efforts haven’t gone entirely unnoticed. She recently scored an informal “mentorship” with a friend of a friend who works at an ad agency. However, the mentorship has mainly involved vague career advice delivered between bites of avocado toast.
“Networking is a slow burn,” Ellie claims as she shows us another unanswered email to her newfound “mentor.” “She’s probably busy networking for herself,” Ellie continued.
Without realizing it, Ellie raises a serious question about finding the right balance between skill and networking. Career counsellors often preach the importance of balancing networking with actual competence—a nuance Ellie seems to have missed. Nonetheless, networking is quickly becoming one of the most essential skills for climbing the workforce ladder. Critics, however, warn against turning it into an all-consuming obsession.
Ellie has a firm response to the critiques. “Skills can be Googled,” she counters. “But relationships? You can’t just download those.”
As the semester edges closer to its end, Ellie has shown no sign of slowing down, filling in her next 45-minute “coffee consumption” slot. With her wallet overflowing with coffee loyalty cards and her LinkedIn connections growing at an exponential rate, Ellie is ready to tackle any issue in the workforce—as long as it involves a side of avocado toast and a matcha iced coffee.
“Everyone talks about balance,” Ellie says, brushing off concerns about her mounting debt and ever-growing workload. “But I promise you I won’t be worried about my balancing act when I’m sipping mimosas with the CEO of a boutique PR agency.”
All this being said, Ellie has moments of doubt as her classmates and competitors land paid internships. Still, she stands firm in her ethos that sipping lattes with someone who once used the office printer is infinitely more valuable than mastering Excel or attending a lecture. She concludes, “Okay, maybe my friend Sophie’s internship at that big digital firm is cool, but can she say she’s networked with a start-up founder and tried a turmeric latte in one afternoon?”
For Ellie, it’s clear: the game is long, but the coffee is bottomless.
More to come, likely over another flat white.