How my network expanded in just 17 months! Chevening Networking Essay

Please read and provide feedback. Thanks.

I build people-to-people contacts

Before joining Oxford University Press (OUP), I knew few people in organizations where I had been an intern. OUP has changed this status quo forever, for my own good. I am in a position where I am connected with academia, media, and the intelligentsia, not just nationally but internationally as well. Regularly meeting academics in Pakistan and getting them to write new textbooks for OUP is what I do. I am responsible to promote locally developed textbooks. It's an organizational objective to encourage local academics and give them chances to further their growth using OUP's platform. I strive to achieve that goal for my organization by building new connections and maintaining the ones already made.

I also collaborate with organizations to advance mutual objectives. At OUP, I have worked in direct and regular collaboration with Aga Khan University on two book projects, and with Sustainable Development Policy Institute on one project. I have made contacts at Karachi University, Habib University, Institute of Business Management, and Institute of Business Administration, and ensured that we received textbook proposals to bring business back to our Higher Education Unit. My organization also made inroads in Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, when I utilized my contact with a professor of mine teaching there. With that reference, we received two new manuscripts from professors of Quaid-e-Azam University.

I build people-to-people contacts by identifying mutual ground and the potential of the relationship to benefit both the parties. I was sent twice to Malaysia from May-August 2017 for a publishing summit and our Annual Sales Conference. After coming back, I established contact with OUP's Editorial team in Malaysia. Through knowledge-sharing with the Malaysian team, I improved my department's SOPs and constructed a 'Vertical-Horizontal Plan' of textbook organization-something I didn't know existed.

I am a firm believer in knowledge-for-all and development through literacy. Working for educational development is part of my personal set of values, which keeps me connected with The Citizens Foundation, where I worked three years ago as an intern. Now, I am supporting their Alumni Development Programme (ADP) since two years, helping under-privileged students to prepare their applications for international universities and undergraduate exchanges. This year, I helped ten students with their application essays for the USEFP U-Grad Exchange Program, two of whom got selected. As a result, TCF looks up to me for recruitment in certain positions where they feel I'd be most resourceful. I am currently working to develop a pool of freelance writers for TCF, who will produce content for their official blog. It is a paid assignment and I am getting fresh graduates from my university and social circle lined up for this. Sometimes, I also arrange for TCF events to be covered in the media.

My intellectual drive combined with a capacity to take action has connected me with the right people, and made me an influencer in my social and professional circles. I look forward to enhancing the Chevening experience for other scholars by making pathways for them by utilizing my connections in Pakistani publishing business, academia, and media.

@Raza93
Good essay Raza. But I think you should separate your 2nd paragraph, because it contains so much information and you highlight more than 1 topic.
Anyway, you have a great essay

Marzia,you indicated that you were sent twice to Malaysia, please represent the individual times you were sent separately because the current format makes it appear like you mistakenly said twice when you only went there once for an extended stay. Always be precised in the information that you provide. Any mistakes in information presentation could cost your grant consideration. As far as I am concerned, that is the only aspect of this networking essay that needs to be edited for content and presentation. Everything else is strong and indicative of a usable professional network should Chevening decide to give you a scholarship. Then again, there are the Post Study plans considerations that could make or break your application. So you need to make sure that you present all of the information at its strongest. Specially the information that may need to be double checked by the reviewer such as your visit to Malaysia and the purpose for your visit there, along with who you interacted with during those two visits.