What is Networking?
Networking is the ongoing process of building professional connection and relationships, connecting with people in your field of interest, and another way to find job and internship opportunities. Career professionals report that up to 75 percent of job openings are never advertised, so networking is a crucial element to job searching. These connections can happen in a casual environment, a professional setting or at formally-structured networking events.
As a student, you already have a network of peers you are connected with. You can start here to connect with people who have similar interests and create skills you will use throughout your life and career. Other examples of networking are:
- joining student organizations
- discussing career and job opportunities with friends, family, coworkers, and other professional connections
- connecting with alumni through Handshake or LinkedIn
- attending professors’ office hours and connecting with class speakers
- participate in informational interviews with those in your career path
- job shadowing individuals who are currently doing the work you are interested in
- attended events (such as job and internship fairs) or conferences that allow you to meet new people – check out our events page on Handshake to find and register for upcoming opportunities to network
- joining mentoring groups (both on-campus and community-based)
Self Guides
Optimize Your LinkedIn: This is a self pace guide that will walk you through the process of how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. We will cover the following:
- Crafting a strong Headline and About Section
- Other Important Features such as Open to Work
- Checklist of all things to tackle to land that job
