I Heard... I Need to Network

What Is “Networking?”

I’m not going to give you a really boring dictionary definition there, because... ain’t nobody got time for that! Networking is pretty much any time that you are meeting new people with the intent of being able to use their connections to (in your cases) land a job, an internship, a spot on that club you really want, meet your scholarship donor for the first time, etc. For the purposes of keeping this post relatively focused, we’re going to mostly focus on the networking that you're going to do for recruiting (internships and full time jobs after you graduate college).

Where Does This Networking Business Happen?

In your college career, you'll most commonly see networking happen at the following points (in chronological order): practice networking with your career services team (if you don’t know when/how this happens, ask your career services office! They almost always offer a lot of practice sessions such as this to prep you for interview season), career fairs, interviews (sometimes), second round interviews (also sometimes called “super days”).

They can happen on campus, at the office that you're interviewing at, in a gym, at a reception... pretty much anywhere.

Who Should I Be Networking With?

The whole point of networking is for the company (or recruiter on behalf of the company) to get to know you better but ALSO for you to get to know the company better. During these times, try to seek out company representatives to ask questions and listen to other people ask questions (and have them answered). This second part cannot be forgotten—you will be networking (meeting company representatives) with a crowd of your peers. To that end, please be considerate in a networking group: do not block other people’s view of the representative (there’s usually more students than there are representatives, so small circles will naturally form around the reps), don't capitalize all of the reps time with just your questions and don't focus too much on talking about your specific interests, goals or role you’re applying for.

Everyone Says “Just Be Yourself”, But... Should I?

Yes. You should be genuine to who you are. As someone who has recruited a fair amount, it is always painfully obvious when someone is trying to portray themselves as someone they are not. However, there are some basic things to remember to put your best foot forward:

  1. Any name tags get placed on your left chest—this is so your recruiter can still read your name tag when you shake hands (with your right hand)

  2. If you are a notoriously late person, make sure you set an earlier alarm for you so that you can arrive on time (recruiters notice these types of things)

  3. If you are will be traveling to get to your networking event or if there is inclement weather (rain, high humidity, high temperatures) consider arriving early to reset yourself in the bathroom so you're not shaking hands while sweating profusely. For those who will wear suit jackets, consider carrying your suit jacket until right before you enter the event so that you don't sweat too much in warm weather

  4. Iron your clothes. Seriously. Just do it. If you don’t know how, ask a friend

  5. If you collect any business cards, make sure to send a thank you email (or hard note) to that recruiter afterward with a small recap of what you chatted about and thanking them for their time. It’s amazing that not many people do this—it makes a ton of difference and (when the note is well written) it helps the recruiter remember you

Now Get Out There! Say Hi to People!

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