Those are very important steps to take in school. Where I come from, your relationship with professors make a world of difference and sometimes, they may be the difference between excellent grade and a very good grade. It never hurts knowing them. I had a similar issue as the one you mentioned when I got my first job. Fortunately, even though I was not very close to any of my professors, they knew me and getting those references signed was easy. It is nice to meet you here. Hopefully I shall be reading more from you as I have followed you. All the best.