Develop Your Network

Topic Progress:

Develop Your Network

This lesson is courtesy of Progressive Insurance, one of our Partner Employers

This topic will take about 15 minutes to review

The following lesson is all about developing your professional network. The goal of this lesson is to review the content below as a starting point to developing your own personal network.

Networking Overview

Why is networking important? 

  • Think of “networking” as building relationships with others and giving them the opportunity to get to know you better.
  • Your relationships with others can help you both directly and indirectly when you are looking for jobs and contemplating different career paths.
  • Networking also helps you to identify opportunities in the first place.  Some jobs, internships, and volunteer positions may be filled by people with internal connections before they get posted to a job site.
    • i.e. It’s not always what you know, but sometimes who you know.

Identifying Networking Opportunities

Networking does not have to mean cold-calling strangers — much more often, it means recognizing and making effective use of the connections that already exist in your life.  Here are some helpful questions to get started:

  • To whom are you connected with already?  Think about family, friends, teachers, neighbors, members of your religious community, or others you interact with regularly.
  • To whom or what are your connections connected?   Where do your connections work?  What backgrounds or experiences do they have?  How did they get there?
  • What are your interests and goals?  Knowing what you want to do is a helpful prerequisite for identifying a new internship or job.
  • What kind of relationships do you want or need to build?  This could be an informal mentoring relationship, a more formal advisory relationship, or simply someone to ask a few questions to.
  • Which communication method do you prefer?  Some people feel most comfortable meeting in person; others prefer the written format of email or social media.  You won’t always have a choice which method you’ll need to use, but it’s helpful to identify what works best for you.

Ways to Get Started Networking

Here are some tips and strategies for seeking out and making the most of networking opportunities:

  • Start SIMPLE.  Use the relationships you already have, and work first on developing the sorts of connections that naturally present themselves in your life.
    • Your parents, your friends’ parents, your teachers, etc. have years of networking experience, so be sure to ask for their guidance.
  • EXPAND your circle.  Try sitting with different groups of people during lunch to get to know them better.
    • Start up a conversation with a student that you may not know very well.
    • Now and in the future, the more people you know, the better chances you will have to find employment.
  • Become involved in activities OUTSIDE of school.  Try to make time for things outside of the classroom.
    • Consider volunteering, becoming involved in sports, joining a church youth group, etc.
  • Be NICE to everyone.  This one should be easy!  But still very important – likeability is a huge factor of the hiring process.
  • REHEARSE networking interactions.  This may sound silly, but it can actually help to practice with friends or family.
    • Think of this as your “elevator pitch" (it needs to be short enough that you could communicate it in the time it takes to ride in an elevator!).
    • To start with, write down your intended introduction and explanation of your interests and refer to that document when rehearsing.
    • The more those around you know about what you’re invested in, the more they’ll be able to offer suggestions and help you make useful connections.
  • Maximize your STRENGTHS.  Choose methods of communication and self-promotion that make it easier for you to maintain confidence, communicate effectively, and demonstrate your strengths.
  • Stay ORGANIZED.  Keep track of who you’ve talked with, what they do, and what was said in your conversation, including any suggestions your connection made.
    • If you promise to send someone your resume or check in again in a month, leave yourself a note or set a reminder on your phone to actually do it!
  • TRACK your progress with MEASURABLE goals.  Don’t expect to become an expert overnight — instead, set appropriate goals and work on them regularly.
    • Start small.  Work on emailing/contacting one new connection in your first month.  Then try to reach out to two people the next month, and so on.

Networking Exercise to Do Over Time

Familiarize yourself with the following exercise to do over time.

Step #1: 

List out all of your contacts.  Think about family, friends, friends’ parents, neighbors, members of your religious community, etc. (PERSONAL) as well as teachers, faculty, people you meet in formal settings, or referrals from other people (PROFESSIONAL).


Step #2:

Take five of your contacts, have a conversation with them. Where do they work?  How did they get there (i.e. what background/prior experiences)?


Step #3:

Which communication method do you prefer?  Check all that apply, and think about which methods are most appropriate for personal contacts (such as social media, texting) or professional contacts (email, LinkedIn messages, scheduled phone calls).


Step #4:

Rehearse your “elevator pitch” and other networking interactions.  For starters, answer each of the following questions, and always have these answers handy and ready to deliver.

  • Introduction – List the basics.  How will you introduce yourself?
  • List some of your interests or educational experience.  What are your passions and your strengths?
  • List some general questions that could be used as conversation startersand to keep the conversation going.  Networking will be a dialogue and active conversation.  It is as important to listen as it is to speak.

Step #5:

Stay Organized.  Maintain a spreadsheet, electronic contact list, notebook, etc. for people you’ve met, when, where, and any next steps to take.

Practice following up with new connections.  After meeting a new connection, make it a habit to send a follow-up note (handwritten is best, but email will often suffice).  Thank them for their time, and include information about where you met, what you talked about, and anything else to provide helpful context.