On March 8, the IE School of Global and Public Affairs hosted its fourth workshop in the “Professional Skills” series. Held in the Madrid campus, the event focused on the art of networking and building professional relationships. Through personal stories and observations from his own career path, speaker Dr. Marcos Gallego Llorente gave the attendants his educated advice on how to achieve their dream jobs and internships. Dr. Llorente is currently working as Senior Consultant for Vintura, a leading consultancy company in the healthcare sector.
One of his key pieces of advice is not to be afraid to reach out to people of interest for career opportunities. The speaker acknowledged that this can be easier said than done, yet encouraged attendants to reach out. He told the students that a first step can be as simple as a LinkedIn message, or trying to find an email address, even guessing it. As his own experience has shown him, employers may not always respond, but when they do, it can be extremely rewarding: “If you don’t reach out, nothing will happen and you’ll always be one email away from your dream job. If you never send that first email, you will never set things in motion.”
In this increasingly competitive and globalized world, students are confronted with immense pressures to perform well academically, find the “right” internships, and continuously take part in extracurricular activities. Thinking about next steps, or which direction to take a career, can be daunting. Dr. Llorente gave this path a broad structure, providing students with concrete steps they can take to achieve their goals.
Before the workshop, The Stork sat down with Dr. Llorente. For the full interview, click here!
