The future! It scares me!

intparent
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:34:59 +0000

Constable, glad to hear that you are on LinkedIn already!! I recall last year a student who was job hunting and posting about it on CC. He was unsure who to ask to link with him… I think he thought it was sort of like Facebook, and he was reluctant to link with older people or people he had not socialized with outside of work. Just be sure you link with everyone at your internship who you think knows your name. Regardless of whether you are true buddies with them, if you had a couple of meetings with them or provided them some info for a project or they are your boss or sit in the next row over, add them to your network. I once got a contract worth over $100,000 from the programmer who sat next to me and worked on something completely different than my work, but at a later date she know someone who needed some skills I had to offer.

You should link with professors if they know you as well. Sometimes they have good connections in industry, too.

When you are really kicking off your job search (say, next January), post a message to your network regarding what you are looking for. Then all those people know! And jobs are posted on LinkedIn as well, so keep an eye on those. Just keep adding people to your network as you go, too. You never know who is going to help you now or in a few years!

Brooklynborndad is totally right that many jobs are filled through a connnection like this, not via a resume sent to HR. HR is just looking to weed you out because you are missing something they think is critical. But the hiring manager might be willing to overlook some skill shortage if you are heavily weighted in some other area they like. Or just if you come recommended from someone they know.

By the way, I never considered myself a good networking person. In fact, I was AWFUL at stuff like joining professional organizations, going to dinners to hear speakers and meet people, meeting people at conferences, etc. I am slightly Asperger-y, I think, so it is not a strength of mine at all. I worked in a field where I met a lot of different people over time, and built good relationships, but never thought of it as networking. Then about 10 years ago I started my own business, and found that one of my greatest assets was a very strong network that I had built just through working with lots of people. LinkedIn has been a great tool to create a more formal connection with all those people and keep in touch as people move around, too (it is a bonus for your network when someone moves jobs, then you have another company where you know someone :)).