The Importance of LinkedIn for Students
I am a rising sophomore and aspiring buy-side analyst at a Canadian university. I thought I'd share the importance of LinkedIn and how it has helped me contact alumni and expand my network.
I attend a small school with a tight knit alumni base. Due to its smaller size compared to other schools, I have found that alumni are often willing to help out. LinkedIn has a feature that allows you to search your school and filter alumni down to the industry and/or city you are targeting. If I find someone of interest, I will send them a brief message in the invite box. It is essential to customize your invite and not use the preset message to give yourself the opportunity to state your purpose.
Many of my contacts have said that if I did not customize their invite, they most likely would have ignored me. People love hearing about their own successes, so if you mention that so and so is extremely successful in investment banking and that you would like to talk to them about their path, they are more likely to respond.
One thing to keep in mind, especially in finance, is that people do not have a lot of time to read messages and emails. It is best to be as concise as possible when contacting alumni or other professionals. Over the past year, I have developed a template that I use when contacting people. It is more for if you are reaching out to someone you have never met, rather than following up after an event. My template is as follows:
Hi [Mr./Ms. last name],
I am a [school year] at [school name], studying [major(s)]. I have a passion for ..., with the goal of working in .... I am impressed with your achievements/firm/career path (list specifically), and would like to meet for coffee at your earliest convenience.
Regards,
[your name]
Keep in mind that this is what works for me, but I encourage you to explore different ways to connect with alumni. Not everyone has LinkedIn, so it is important to practice cold calling and emailing as well. I hope this was useful, thanks!
There's always a bunch on networking here, but its also always nice to see successful personal anecdotes. I know that when I started cold-emailing and calling, I feared that messages like that were too impersonal, but you're exactly right about the lack of time most professionals have (especially for unsolicited emails). Keep it short, concise, respectful, but don't pussy foot around waiting for them to invite you to dinner. Make plans (or at least try to), and keep on top of it. At first it may seem like you're meeting all these people who don't directly add value, but 1) take a more human approach to it and realize that you're establishing personal relationships, and 2) realize that they all wont't be able to give you a recommendation, or suggestion, or internship, but all it takes is one.
Couldn't agree more. It takes some practice before networking becomes more comfortable. And rarely anyone you connect with is going to ask you to meet, it's all in your hands.
Been banging this drum for years...nice blog post :-)
Good post. In addition to this, I would add having a good LinkedIn is extremely helpful. Several people I have networked with have told me when I emailed them they checked my LinkedIn and only responded to me as they saw me as a "good recruitment candidate" (internships, extracurriculars, academics etc). Having a LinkedIn but listing piss all can be a detriment.
couldn't agree more. Almost everyone I've spoken to has viewed my LinkedIn before responding. I do the same.
Thanks, and I completely agree with your statement. Putting the time into your LinkedIn profile will always improve your results.
What school do you go to?
I go to a Canadian school in the top 3-5 for Toronto finance recruitment, Queens and Ivey obviously being the top two.
Great post. Good on you for discovering this so early in your college career.
I have seen this alot esp in students. Don't go around trying to get the "500+" mark and trying to connect with everyone. It dilutes your professional network and makes it less valuable when you try to leverage to make introductions.
Along with this - if you want to get in touch with someone and are a 2nd degree connection to him/her. Reach out to the mutual connection and see if that person can make an intro. It works a decent amount in my experience. Again, if you connect with literally everyone, this won't be as effective
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