Networking is a word we have all heard before. Whether from teachers, parents or industry professionals, it is something we all must learn to do.

The Office of Career Services at Southeast Missouri State University wants to make learning career skills easier. Throughout the year, the office holds many events aimed at helping students prepare for the future, and their last event of the year is no different.

From 6-8 p.m. on April 5, career services will host Professional Networking 101 at Catapult Creative House, located on Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

"I've always been trying to tell students that they need to realize that they are the product that they are trying to sell in all of these situations," Dan Presson, coordinator for employer relations at Southeast, said. "Whether it be an interview or career fair, an etiquette dinner, anything. So this gives students an actual hands-on opportunity in a faux networking scenario with outside people not from the university, but actual community members that are going to be there to network with them."

Presson said that when students arrive they will have the opportunity to freely practice their networking skills with real community professionals in the very same way students would interact during real-life networking events. Presson said they have looked into every detail, even the food.

"I know this might sound crazy, but we're really trying to make this as 'real world' as possible," Presson said. "This is down to the fact that we have chosen foods that we have all experienced at networking events so that students know how to handle certain types of foods during these events."

After the open networking portion of the evening, students and community members will head to the back of Catapult where students will get to hear real-life recounts of situations the professionals have experienced while networking.

Presson said students should come prepared, in the exact same way they would go prepared for an interview or a job fair.

"Even if it's not someone who can directly offer them something, it's going to be someone who can assist them, tell them a good story about a way to get noticed in their industry," Presson said. "Maybe it's a person that knows another person since we're only bringing in community members that work in different industries around the Cape region, and it's not going to be any faculty members from here on campus. These are actual people that, if these students get employed here in Cape Girardeau, they will be networking with these people on a regular basis."

Most millennials are all too familiar with social media. One of the more popular social platforms for professionals is LinkedIn, and while important, according to Michele Tapp, director of Academic Advising and Career Services, students need to learn how to network in person as well.

"LinkedIn is absolutely critical, but the reason we're doing this event is because we want to make sure that students understand that they can't just rely on social media as a way to build their community," Tapp said. "It's more of a social community, and this is really an opportunity for them to develop an actual good-old-fashioned human face-to-face network. Just practicing that art of selling yourself and communicating effectively."

Space for this networking event is limited, allowing only 50 students to attend and network with between seven and 10 professionals. Presson said the max number of students allowed was to give students the opportunity to actually converse with the professionals.

While the list of attendees still is being finalized, Presson said the director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, a member of a local Merrill Lynch branch and the owner of Ipseity Creative already are slated to attend.

During the summer, career services will launch its new website, RedHawkJobs.com, but already is starting to produce marketing to create awareness for the name.

"This is the first event that we are doing registration for RedHawkJobs.com, so it's definitely different for us," Presson said. "It currently directs you right into an interface that still says REDConnect on it, but if you use that URL, it's up and functioning. It's not our official layout, but it's working."

Students interested in registering can go to the events tab and then to workshops and click "Register" to claim a spot.