Getting Started with Networking

THREE WAYS TO GET STARTED!

1. Learn more on our blog - 
Networking Part 1: On-Campus Opportunities
Networking Part 2: Opportunities at UR
An Alumna’s Perspective on Student-Alumni Networking Night

2. Online Tutorial: Networking and the Rochester Career Advisory Network (RCAN) > (covers similar information to Networking 101)
Learn all about networking and gain access to RCAN (a searchable database of thousands of alumni advisers for you to contact) right from your computer.

3. Once you’ve attended or taken an introduction, make an appointment for a “networking coaching session” with a Career Center counselor by calling 275.2366 or stopping by 302 Meliora Hall. We can help you identify new and existing contacts you may have, instruct you in the use of helpful resources, coach you through the networking process, and help design a networking strategy just for you!

 

3 Different Types of Networking

  1. Networking for exploration…
    Undertaken by those examining career fields and seeking “connections” between majors and careers; this involves simply and appropriately asking others for information about their own careers and their views on career fields, job functions, as well as graduate and professional studies. This type of networking is curiosity-driven, done by those who cannot yet clearly articulate goals; often by those at early academic and career developmental stages. Email correspondence as well as phone and in-person discussions (“information conversations”) are the cornerstones of networking for exploration.
  2. Networking for internship and job search…
    This type of networking is useful for those who are actively seeking consideration, referrals and support of persons who can facilitate the search for job, internship, shadowing and research opportunities. Initial and subsequent communications require that you project knowledge of fields, functions as well as firms. While we focus on alumni networking here, networking can be done with faculty, family, friends, and many others.
    Honesty is always the best networking policy. If you are seeking “information only,” act accordingly, but if you truly wish assistance with internship or job search efforts you should be straight-forward about your goals, and present them in appropriate and diplomatic ways.
  3. Networking for graduate school identification…
    This type of networking is for those seeking information from individuals who have attended graduate and professional schools and are seeking assistance with identifying and applying to specific programs. This also involves email correspondence as well as phone and in person discussions. Networking is not really a request for “recommendations” or “support,” although that could follow if the relationship evolves.
    In fact, ideally all networking progresses naturally from networking for exploration, to networking for internship and job search; and from graduate school identification to seeking support of one’s candidacy. And, as the relationship strengthens, an alumnus can evolve from “information provider” to “career role model,” then, to “mentor” and, ultimately, to “advocate.”