Networking is the process of interacting with others to exchange information. Building a career network involves building relationships with other professionals and individuals.
Why should you network?
Hands-on experiences for students can lead to recommendation letters, references, or potential job opportunities. Teaching students to navigate professional relationships and build their network is a transferable skill that they will need when beginning their job search.
Who do you network with?
Networking can be done with any individuals within the workforce. These are typically individuals who are in a position that align with your students’ career goals. Or people in hiring and powerful positions within a company or organization.
When can networking happen?
Networking can be done at ANY point during an individual’s educational and employment experiences. Networking, typically begins at the start of a job search to connect with potential employers, however continuing to build a network will always be valuable during a career journey.
Where do you network?
Networking can be done in a professional setting or a social setting.
- Professional settings can include: conferences, career fairs, workshops, informational interviews, presentations
- Social settings can include: events, lunches, casual gatherings
How do you network?
Networking can be achieved in multiple ways. You are exchanging information about your students’ work interests, experiences, and education in order to form professional relationships to help students achieve their goals. Some examples include:
- Elevator pitches
- These are short 30-60 second introductions
- Include information about background, skills, positive attributes and goals.
- Student-led Interviews
These are scheduled times to meet one-on-one with a professional to ask spec
