Networking is a matter of cause and effect. Networking essay for Chevening

Hey guys! I've just found this community and it's heartwarming to know that there are such empathetic people out there!
I'm applying for Chevening scholarship and it would be great if you could take a look at this essay for me:

"Chevening is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with the Chevening 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.

(minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

chevening wants to know my networking skills

I have learnt that networking relationships must be authentic. Having thousands of networking partners might not allow us to connect with those who are truly important. Hence, I have assumed that holding few, but strong networking partners can be much more valuable for both, personal and professional life.

Building a trustworthy network requires a lot of effort. However, it must be natural and enjoyable for those involved. My most significant networking partners are the ones whose work or personality I have learned to respect and admire.

I believe my networking skills started growing strong from the point I realized that it has to begin by helping others. Once you change your attitude towards potential partners in that way, their reaction will be positively proportional and inevitable.

I has first become clear to me during my volunteer internship at the Sao Paulo Zoo. I had the opportunity to get to know some of the most prestigious biologists and veterinarians of the country. Their passion for the job and their team bounds made me immediately recognize in them a natural connection that lasts until today. We still share technical experiences about animal care and conservation strategies.

For my next challenge on the wild animal releasing project (Projeto Asas Vila Verde), networking became even more necessary. As the head biologist, I had to stablish a reliable relationship with governmental agencies, wildlife centres, research institutions and the local community. Networking was the key strategy to bring them to work with alongside us. Therefore, we started from disseminating information about how important our job was for our common environment and how positively it would influence in people's lives.

The next step was pursuing stakeholders. We developed a marketing strategy aiming to burst the project's popularity through social media, local magazines, radio and television channels, as well as promoting events such as birdwatching workshops and lectures on animal trafficking and wildlife conservation. We also published papers in university conferences. As a result, we triggered the interest of students who undertook their thesis and dissertations with research in our centre, and the sponsorships allowed us to enlarge our infrastructure, our team and our work capacity.

Networking is a matter of cause and effect. For having understood that I am now ready to develop my skills on this field. Studying and living abroad is exactly what I need in order to bring back to my home country the international and high quality knowledge on how to develop strong network for the conservation of nature."

Thanks for your time, guys!

hello! let me try to proofread and edit a bit :)
I think you deliver the essay well and you have a good networking skills. however, i spotted a misspelled word

stablish establish

Rodrigo, there is a misconception that internship experience qualifies as a valid networking experience. That is never the case. This experience that you shared shows amateur influencing skills. Not professional skills and therefore doesn't have a place in this essay. You must remove the reference to your internship and then clarify that you worked as the head biologist in your professional line of work.

Only work related experiences are required as this is the network threat Chevening hopes to help you grow as a scholar. These networks will also be required of you to share with the Chevening community and future scholars as well. So you can see why college level networks, unless proven to be nurtured and grown up to the present time, cannot be accepted as valid samples in this essay.

Your essay lacks an explanation as to how you are growing your network of contacts and how you plan to grow the network in the future. More importantly, you have to explain how the network you will create via Chevening will benefit you and vice versa. How do you hope to help future scholars as part of the alumnae network? Review the prompt instructions and make sure you have a clear response presented for each topic presented for discussion.