Your Guide to Successful Networking Pt. 2

Networking on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools you can use in your professional career. It has increasingly gained popularity over the past several years, and now it is a standard best practice when it comes to networking. We will go over some of the best ways to connect with others on LinkedIn!

There are many different uses to LinkedIn, but one of the most valuable ways to use it is for finding connections to help you land a job, learn about a new career path, or just expand your network.

Personally, I have found LinkedIn extremely useful when I have wanted to get a referral for a job I was interested in. These are the following steps I took which helped me land multiple job referrals and build new connections:

1. First, navigate to the company’s page that you’re interested in working at.
2. Within the company’s page, go to the ‘People’ tab and search for individuals who may have something in common with you. This would include attending the same universities or high schools, working at the same company, or being a part of the same organization (such as a fraternity or sorority). The image to the right shows my mobile application version of LinkedIn. I navigated to Google’s profile page and when I go to the ‘People’ tab, it automatically shows people that I might have a potential connection with. For instance, it shows the people that I am already connected with who work at Google, potential connections that attended the same university as me (Georgetown), and people who work in the town my profile is set to (Arlington, VA). This makes it very quick and easy to locate potential people to strike up a conversation with! Note: the desktop version will allow you to manually filter criteria to find people you have things in common with.
3. Once you find a few people that you’re interested in connecting with, this next step should be completed on the desktop version of LinkedIn. Navigate to the person’s profile, and click the ‘Connect’ button. Without a LinkedIn premium membership, you cannot message people you are not connected to. It is unlikely that someone will accept your connection request without further context. This is where LinkedIn on your desktop browser comes in handy. After you click the ‘Connect’ button, you will be prompted to add a note to your invitation. This is where you can add some context to your invitation request. A simple message such as the following will do the trick: “Hi [Name], I noticed we both attended [University]! I’m currently exploring opportunities in [industry/field] and would love to learn more about your role at [Company]. Would you be open to a quick chat to share your experience? Looking forward to connecting!”
4. Hopefully, your connection request is accepted. From here, you can coordinate a time to chat over the phone or video call (typically a 30 minute meeting is appropriate).
5. During the video call, you have the opportunity to ask them questions about their career path, their current role at their company, and any advice they have for you. If your goal is to receive a referral to the company they work at, your chance to ask is at the end of your conversation. Once you feel that all of your questions have been answered, you can wrap up the phone call by saying something along the lines of this: “Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me and discuss your career path. I’m planning on applying to the [Name of position] program and was wondering if you would be able to provide me with a referral? I’m happy to provide you with my resume or any other information!” If they have already spent the time and effort to meet with you, they are most likely more than happy to provide you with a referral.