What is networking?

Networking is the ongoing action of building relationships around professional and academic interests. If that seems vague and overly broad, it’s because it is. Here’s some simplification.

Most commonly, college students pursue networking through:

Informational interviews: Leading a one-on-one in-person or virtual conversation about careers/academics

Attending events: Meeting people at an employer-hosted event, attending a student organization meeting, participating in a networking event, etc.

Email/messages: Connecting with someone via written communication to ask a couple brief questions about someone’s career, company, or role

In networking relationships, both parties share information to help each other. 

Through networking, a professional might provide you: 

  • advice and insight into your professional interests, industry, and navigating a career
  • additional contacts for you to network with
  • a connection (or “foot in the door”) at a particular company 

Through networking, a university student might provide:

  • To fellow students (especially in years below you): advice and insight into navigating the university, choosing a major, or finding opportunities for jobs or internships
  • To an industry professional: updates on innovative concepts you are learning in class, current student trends or perspectives, what’s new at the university (especially if you’re talking to an alumni)

Connecting with professionals is an informative, eye-opening, and vital part of your career exploration and job search process. It can also be daunting! Don’t worry. There are simple strategies to follow, and you can start where you’re comfortable.

The basic equation for networking = you + another person + having a conversation about education or careers. It can be more formal, such as an informational interview, or informal, like running into a former classmate at Target and finding out you’re declaring the same major.

Because “networking” can be vague and overly broad, here are some example networking activity plans based on your comfort level. These are just simplified suggestions–any of these activities are good for students to engage in at any point in time.

Good for someone who’s exploring majors or broadly exploring industries

Step 1

Write a list of everyone you know who could possibly serve as a contact (you could network with them, or they could connect you with someone else). Your list can include friends, classmates, relatives, former co-workers and supervisors, connections from community or cultural groups, speakers who visited your class, or alumni–think broadly.

  • Don’t limit yourself to people who are in your career or major area. Friendly, accessible people in unrelated careers often have contacts they would be happy to share.

OR

Use Maroon and Gold Network, which is like a LinkedIn only for UMN students and alumni. Members of the platform opted into it specifically BECAUSE they want to connect with students for networking.

Step 2

Select 1-2 connections from your list or Maroon and Gold Network and reach out to them to either: 

  • request an informational interview, i.e. 20-30 minutes to talk about their career, education, company, role, etc. 
  • OR
  • ask a couple brief questions via email or messaging (conducting an informational interview is typically superior to this networking method via written communication, but it can be daunting to make that request at first–that’s OK)

Leverage these templates for what to write when you reach out!

Step 3

If preparing for an informational interview,  you will be expected to lead it by preparing ahead of time with 5-6 questions you want to ask. If sending an email/message, you’ll still want to use these preparation tips to ask good questions (a good question is one that is not easily answered by a quick Google search).

Prepare by:

  • reviewing your contact’s LinkedIn profile if they have one and 
  • reading their company’s “About” section on the website to gain a basic understanding of what it does
  • Take notes on what you have in common or what you find interesting to create questions for your conversation

See sample networking questions.

Step 4

Conduct the interview.

Step 5

Send a thank-you note.

Good for someone who has chosen a major and wants to explore related careers and/or make professional contacts

Step 1

Use LinkedIn search filters to find a professional working at a company or performing a job you’re interested in. Send a connection request with a brief introduction. LinkedIn’s character limit may require you to follow up with a longer message after they accept your connection request to request an informational interview.

Step 2

You will be expected to lead the informational interview since you requested it. Prepare ahead of time with 5-6 questions you want to ask.
Prepare by:

  • reviewing your contact’s LinkedIn profile if they have one and 
  • reading their company’s “About” section on the website to gain a basic understanding of what it does
  • Take notes on what you have in common or what you find interesting to create questions for your conversation

See sample networking questions.

Step 4

Conduct the interview.

Step 5

Send a thank-you note.

Good for someone who’s actively (or soon to be) searching for an internship or full-time job

Step 1

Through Handshake, find a networking event sponsored by a student group or employer or find a career fair. 

Step 2

Prepare your professional introduction (sometimes called an elevator pitch).

Step 3

Attend the event, connect with relevant individuals, and ask for their contact information if you’d like to keep in touch or ask additional questions.

Step 4

Follow up with people you met, potentially to request a more in-depth conversation/informational interview.

The typical outline of an informational interview looks a little like the outline below. This example is based on a 30-minute meeting. Don’t worry if the conversation veers from your plan or prepared questions. This is first and foremost a conversation, which is meant to feel natural.

5 minutes | casual conversation

  • Build rapport by asking a question like “How’s your week going?” or “Do you have fun plans for the weekend?”
  • Introduce yourself and explain why you were interested in meeting.

~20 minutes | the questions you prepared

  • 5-6 questions (it’s OK if you don’t get to ask all of them, but you may want to prioritize your mist important ones)

Check out sample networking questions

~5 minutes | wrapping up and asking about other connections they suggest you make

  • Always ask “May I have your email to stay in touch or if I have other questions? (if you don’t already have their email address) and “Is there anyone else you suggest I connect with?” 
  • Reiterate any actions you will follow up with: for example, “I’ll send you my resume as you requested” or “I’ll share that article with you mentioned with you.”

Afterwards

Send a thank you email.

What if I reach out to someone and they don’t respond?

Follow up with the after a week using this template as a base. This is not rude–it is typically seen as helpful because sometimes people miss emails. If they don’t respond after that, move on to a new contact.

Will they think it’s weird that I’m reaching out and I don’t know them?

No. Networking and connecting with people you don’t know is a common practice in the professional world.

Will they be annoyed I’m bothering them?

No (but if they don’t have time, they may not respond at all–it’s nothing personal). For the majority of professionals, networking is valued and seen as a way to give back to younger professionals while also keeping in touch with entry-level hiring interests and trends.

How to Connect

Career Services can help:

Your career office will be able to help you:

  • Learn networking protocols (follow up is key!)
  • Connect with alumni and professionals in your field(s) of interest
  • Conduct an informational interview
  • Prepare for and get the most out of career fairs and networking events

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