Two Minute Tuesday (Part Two): Early Career Networking (My strategy)
My Networking Goal
Networking can feel like a daunting task, and it did especially as I was first starting out. I set out to build meaningful relationships in the early career space, but I knew cold calling and random emails wouldn’t cut it. Instead, I turned to LinkedIn. Here’s why:
Credibility: My LinkedIn profile and connections provided immediate validity. Putting a face to my name helped build trust. Something I desperately need as a 22 year old business owner.
Targeting: LinkedIn allowed me to directly find businesses across New Zealand and pinpoint the right people to message. (Some might call this LinkedIn stalking… I call it smart networking!)
Brevity: The 300-character (45-72 words) limit forced me to be concise. My message was simple: introduce myself, mention The Student Hand, and ask for an email to share more details.
My philosophy? I wasn’t pushing a hard sell. Instead, I aimed to open a door. And so far it’s worked! Over the past three weeks, I’ve had productive meetings with talent acquisition specialists and built connections nationwide.
My thoughts are this is an authentic technique that offers a variety from typical networking techniques. Or is it rather common?
When planning to write my Two Minute Tuesday on networking, it provided a thought provoking process which led me to wonder: would this be a successful technique for potential candidates? Specifically in the early careers space where I assume it is more uncommon for students to do?
Recruiter Questions
Recruiters, I’m curious: Is this approach something you’d like to see from potential candidates?
Should students fully utilise LinkedIn by posting, commenting, and proactively connecting with industry professionals?
Or would this become annoying/unviable if it became too common?
Student Questions
Students, what initiatives have you taken to secure internships or graduate
roles?
Beyond job boards and university links, and business websites have you used other proactive techniques?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below, I’d love to hear your experiences and advice!
See you next Tuesday!
