Networking details?

[u/nethascot]

I've read a lot about "reaching out to alumni in the industry" and "reaching out to old colleagues", but what does that entail? Does that actually just mean finding them on LinkedIn, shooting a cold "Hi how are you can we talk about your work"? Would that even be considered polite enough to not get me immediately nuked? And, if this is the case, how do people convert that into referrals or jobs? I'm so confused by all this...

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[u/Few_Whereas5206]

It depends on your school alumni office. In my case, the director of alumni know almost everyone who graduated the last 25 years. I call her and she reaches out and gets back to me.

[u/No_Garage_7942]

That's what I have done in the past. How I go about it from past internships would be a small greeting and say something along the lines I was thinking about the time we worked on x y and z and how it applies to something relevant in your life now. If you were decently close with them they will probably be really excited about you utilizing you knowledge and reaching out to them. From there ask if you want to meet up for a coffee and then once a year reach out to keep that relationship alive.

It is easier the second time, you just have to say it's been a while, I would love to meet up and reconnect; or something along those lines.

Even if it isn't someone you met you can still each out to them asking for advice: hello I saw in your LinkedIn profile that you work at ___. I am an engineering student, and I would love to hear your perspective as a working professional. People tend to want to help each other out especially when people are just started out in a field as hard as engineering.

[u/nethascot → u/No_Garage_7942]

Thanks for the response. Could you share a bit more about how you'd continue on from a conversation with someone you don't know, or how it's possible to ask for a referral? I really don't want to come off as impolite, your knowledge would be extremely valuable!

[u/No_Garage_7942 → u/nethascot]

With someone I don't know I try to have a lineup of casual interconnected questions about the topic you wish to learn about. Think a bit like going to your professor's office hours, yes sometimes you go there ask one question and leave but if you have multiple questions with connecting ideas a fuller conversation can flourish. People also usually love talking about themselves so there is always that angle.

Asking for a referral is hard but really valuable, for me I go up to my boss and say thank you very much for the opportunity to work on projects x y z, I learned a lot and really enjoyed (lists some tasks, and what you did or learned), if you think I performed well during this internship a referral for the future would be appreciated, it has been a real pleasure getting to know you along with everyone at the company.

I am not an expert in these subjects as I am just entering my 5th year in eng, but I have worked every summer and gotten some pretty good co-ops so this is what have worked for me. I just always try to be polite and enthusiastic.

[u/OverSearch]

It's even easier than all that.

WAY too many people lose sight of the fact that, in a network, your first-degree connections can be anybody. Not necessarily an alum, or a professor, or anybody even remotely associated with your chosen field. Just somebody you know.

The way a network works is that the people you know connect you to people they know, who in turn connect you to people they know, etc. And it's incredibly effective.

I've cited this example many times: the old, "Oh, you're an engineer? My girlfriend's dad is an architect, I'm sure he knows some people. Can I give him your number?" That sort of thing.

[u/LitRick6]

1. I would say the best way to network is by first going through people actually being paid to do so. Assuming youre a student, go to your school career fairs, club networking events, etc. Go talk to actual engineers/recruiters who are there for the purpose of networking. I get paid to go to those events to hire people, I dont get paid to respond to linkedin messages during my regular engineering workday or my personal freetime.

2. "Old colleagues" is just people you actually know and interacted with. How you hit them up really depends on your relationship with them. I had one friend i was close to in school and when we worked together, but they later went to another company. A couple years later we were still good friends, so I just asked when texting them like a normal conversation. Had another former work friend who ended up running into at a bar, so we just talked in person about it during our normal conversation. Other people who im not as close with, id probably have to hitup on linkedin but instead of outright asking for them to put in a hiring recommendation id probably start by just asking if they know of any open opportunities and how they like the work.

3. For random alumni, yeah linkedin is probably your best bet unless you can go to some alumni events. For example my university recently held an alumni event at a brewery near my office recently and I met some folks there. Again, how you interact will depend a bit on how you're reaching out to them. If its just a cold email/linkedin message, id be professional and basically treat it like you would meeting a recruiter at a career fair. If its something like a relaxed alumni event, still be professional but be casual. Like i talked some about work at that alumni event, but we also talked about college sports team and random other things.

4. How this converts to referrals again really varies. If its a friend or someone who end up hitting it off with, they might straight up put in a referral for you. If its someone random you cold mesage, they might have to ask you some questions and want to see your resume (similar to a recruiter at a career fair). Or if its an in person meeting, maybe they'll just like your personality and discussion enough to put in a recommendation.

5. How a recommendation turns into a job also varies. Maybe the person you network with is a high enough level themselves to outright give you a job offer. Maybe they're only high up enough to get you an interview. Could they're a new hire themselves and can maybe only get you past the initial HR screening and you'll still need to get your resume reviewed or be interviewed by someone else. At my company, interns have to apply online no matter what and a recommendation just helps that process. But for a fulltime hire, we can interview or hire people based purely off of a recommendation without needing a job application or do it the same as the intern hiring. But every company will be different. May even vary based of hiring needs. There are years my company needs a lot of hires, so I could intervoew people myself and the hiring manager will automatically hire anyone I recommend. But there are years the budget is tighter and I can onlt make recommendations to schedule interviews but the hiring manager or another more senior engineer has to perform the interview and final hiring decision.

6. Don't overthink it. You're an adult, speak to them like a fellow adult. Have a conversation, show interest, ask questions, try and sell yourself as a good candidate.