Students

Networking is a job search strategy based upon establishing contact and cultivating relationships with individuals who can help you identify employment opportunities. These individuals can include friends, acquaintances, neighbors, relatives, alumni, professors, student peers, co-workers, professional colleagues, clergy, politicians, and others.

Why do it?

Surveys have shown that between 63% and 84% of all job hunters obtained their positions by networking, whereas 11% found them by answering ads and 2% through unsolicited resumes. Networking is more effective than other methods because it helps identify opportunities in the "hidden" job market - jobs known to only a few individuals within an organization.

Networking Tips/Strategies

• Make networking a way of life, a social skill that you practice every day.
• Stay organized. Keep track of whom you have contacted, how, when, and the outcome of the contact.
• Develop a brief introduction that identifies you are and clarifies your career goals.
• Request a business card from each individual with whom you meet.
• Continue to build your contact list, even after you have found a job.
• Join a professional organization and make use of its membership directory.
• Be a good networking referral yourself after you have secured a position. Quid pro quo goes a long way. 

How to Conduct a Networking Meeting

1. Engage in small talk (e.g., the weather, the day’s headlines, etc.) to break the ice. 
2. Thank your contact. (e.g., “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. As I indicated during our brief phone conversation last week, I will graduate from the Mailman School of Public Health in October 2010. I am considering a few career options, and I would like to solicit your input.”) 
3. Give your contact a copy of your resume. Verbally highlight significant accomplishments and interests to enable your contact to make additional, relevant referrals. 
4. Request advice, strategies, and observations about your goals. Ask for information about a specific job function or industry or employer.  
5. Ask for additional contacts if not already offered them. Ask how your contact knows them and if you can use his/her name when contacting them. 
6. Close the meeting by indicating that you will follow-up to let the contact know how your search is progressing. 
7. Don’t neglect to send a formal thank you note after the meeting. 

Networking Resources

• Columbia University Regional Alumni Clubs
• Columbia University Alumni Directory
• Your undergraduate Alumni Directory
• If you plan to be based in Washington, DC for the summer, send an email in May requesting to be added to the Washington DC events e-mail list, managed by the Columbia Office of Government and Community Affairs.

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