<p>Help me out please, I am a complete novice at this. What are some good ways to network that I should be looking into? What kind of skills facilitate effective networking? Where should I go to meet people with whom I should want to network? How do I go about using my network to secure potential internship positions?</p>
<p>:'( I have no experience at all! Help!</p>
<p>Join clubs!</p>
<p>Yea especially at Michigan there should be business clubs and such. Fraternities are decent ways to network too. Talk to your professors. Talk to your peers about any connections.</p>
<p>So by joining a club and familiarizing myself with its members, I am essentially networking? Do I have to achieve a certain level of closeness with my club mates before I can truthfully say they are part of my network, or do I just have to join the club? Also, what if I’m not into drinking and partying and about what should I talk to my professors?</p>
<p>The most important people you network with in college will be people your age.</p>
<p>Trust me.</p>
<p>Join a club related to your major. If you are in accounting or something like that, join Beta Alpha Psi or the Accounting Club(or Finance Club or whatever). They’ll probably have events where potential employers meet with you. Maybe less likely if you don’t go to school near a big city. Hopefully you’ll get to meet people with jobs who will help you get one, or at least get you an interview. You might also get friends who are useful to you network wise(meeting friends at the Anime Club majoring in Art doesn’t help build your network as a business major).</p>
<p>It’s hard to define someone as “part of your network.” The more people you get to know, the better, basically. I did traditional things like Beta Alpha Psi, joining a business fraternity, going to career center events–but it ended up being really random things that helped me too. </p>
<p>For example, at my work study job, one of my supervisors organized greek week back in her college days with someone who worked for a company I was interested in. I emailed him about opportunities and what I could bring to the table, then she talked me up, and I ended up getting an internship as a sophomore.</p>
<p>Having someone you can look to for advice regarding your career can help too. For example, at one point I was interested in systems implementation–so I asked a professor if he knew anyone I could talk to about their career in the field. My prof hooked me up with a great contact, I was able to gain enough understanding through this contact that it totally wasn’t right for me, but the guy pretty much offered me an internship based on the discussions we were having. I think looking for mentor-like figures can be very helpful.</p>
<p>Hmm thanks guys, also what are the criteria for joining a professional fraternity? Would I have to go through unreasonable rushing processes, and is it possible for a professional fraternity not to want me even if I have good extracurricular involvement + GPA? Thanks again!</p>
<p>The membership requirements vary. Some regular business clubs have none, some societies have minimum GPA or curriculum requirements, and others are selective, where you have to be voted in. This is something you’d have to ask someone in the organization about.</p>
<p>I’m a Sophomore looking to break into Wall Street. I have contact info for a lot of alumni but I don’t know what exactly to say when I contact them. </p>
<p>What exactly do I do?</p>
<p>Join clubs, develop relationships with students who are motivated and seeking the same intern/post-grad positions as you. As a freshman at DePaul, I can’t stress how important it was for me to join accounting club and MAHA. Through the people I met, I found out about the PwC Chicago honors program (which I applied and got accepted into), I got an interview from a Chicago-based auditing firm (as a freshman!), and I met individuals who are interning with reputable firms (PwC, E&Y, Deloitte, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, and more). Stay involved, develop relationships, and you will begin seeing the advantages of networking.</p>