Scholarship / As Chevening awardee, I will further enhance my networking skills and widen my circle [4]

Chevening scholarship networking question

We are looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with our community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your networking skills, and outline how you hope to use these skills in the future.

Since I was an undergraduate student in my faculty, I always wanted to expand my knowledge and horizon. Thus, I needed to be a prominent and well-known person in my domain. Hence, I found that volunteering in Syrian Smiles project has multifaceted interests, one of which is to initiate building my network. By participating in this activity in 2011, I got along with some professors, students and other volunteering participants. Nevertheless, I was selective to include some specific persons in my circle, of which I recognized having high potential to assume important posts in the near future, and I successfully got along with Professor Omar Hishma who became after two years the head of the Maxillofacial Surgery department in Damascus University. Furthermore, the major advantage I received by then was a job offer in Prof Omar Hishma's clinic right after graduation. Which was a significant possibility not only to work on this high tech and state-of-the-art equipment, but also for the people I will have the chance to meet, like decision makers in the ministry of education, how things are done in this administrative level and the biggest dental equipment sponsors in Syria.

Based on my network I clarify that attending in the Cosmetic Dentistry course is of the essence to get many privileges, and to further extend my network, I applied for supervisor occupation in my department over most of undergraduate students. In 2016, I was invited to carry out a presentation (endodontically treated teeth therapies) in a coursework from JAKOBA by NATHAWI firm (the most prominent corporation for dental materials and equipment in Syria). After this presentation, I received a job offer as an assistant in Syrian Private University SPU over the laboratory activities in the second semester in 2017. Recently, I have been promoted to be a supervisor after one semester.

It is not only the talent that I utilized in order to evolve my network; I also honed my premature skills by attending a Career Development online course on ShawAcadime platform in London 2016.

Because the inherited meaning of networking is generosity, not selfishness, I was also helpful to others. One of which was a dental assistant in the clinic who moved to another district, thus, she approached me for a job and after searching and investigations, I was lucky to find a suitable vacant. Therefore, I knew how networking constructs a society.

When I will be a Chevening awardee, I will further enhance my networking skills and widen my circle, by dealing with professional people from all over the world. I will guarantee a positive impact in this amazing, highly educated and worldwide network. Furthermore, I am planning to conduct interviews on TVs, social media and a presentation about my experience in the UK community in general and in Chevening network in particular in New Horizon Center, in which I have attended lectures about a variety of topics like International Students' Challenges and Benefits in the UK ( similar to TEDx platform).