CALS Career Services Blog

Tweet

A little story to get us all thinking – By Maria McGinnis

When I was a graduate student in Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I was a member of a student organization – NAMA, or the National Agri-Marketing Association. I was the lone graduate student in the group, but unlike many of my fellow graduate student cohorts, I really lacked a network on the UW campus. I did my undergrad at a much smaller campus and simply did not know the “key players” in my industry. I used organizations like NAMA to network with professionals. One such networking event was a breakfast that brought professional and student members together. I remember that day – it was a complete blizzard. But I got dressed in my modest professional garb and made the treck to the Clarion Hotel in Madison.

I sat next to the one person I knew – Jenny Dierickx (then an undergrad at UW). She was sitting next to John Rozum, who was good friends with Jenny’s former internship supervisor, radio personality – Pam Janke (The Fabulous Farm Babe!). John and I got to talking and had a nice conversation about career goals and his road to success. A few months later, John was hiring for an assistant – I saw the job posting and applied. The fact that I met John at a NAMA networking event created common ground that other candidates simply didn’t have – and I got the job.

How does a student make use of professional connections?

At the Career Fair on Monday, you met some great people. You had meaningful conversations with recruiters from organizations relevant to your career interests – and it’s clear that you will use these new found connections for the job and internship search. Now comes the real challenge – how do you make the best use of your contacts and even make them “work” for you?

Why LinkedIn Is Everything

LinkedIn is a wonderful resource that allows you to form a professional network without being too intrusive. You should try and connect with all of the recruiters you met at the Career Fair, especially those that you know you made an impact with. Be careful though, don’t be too pushy if they don’t want to connect. When sending them the invite to connect, make sure to say something about meeting them at the Career Fair, rather than just using the “stock” greeting. Using LinkedIn and adding new information to groups will help you stand out from your competition. Plus it puts your resume right in front of the right people. Most recruiters and business professionals simply can’t do their jobs without LinkedIn. If you don’t have a profile, you are missing out on a great resource to organize your network.

Following Up From the Career Fair

On Day 7, you followed up with all of the recruiters you met. This will provide another opportunity for you to stand out from your competition and make meaningful connections with the recruiters. Remember to ask CALS Career Services for the names of recruiters you spoke with if you didn’t get business cards. Not all recruiters give out their personal business cards – and many run out at the fair. As a point of protocol for yourself, get in the habit of asking for cards. Another way to stand out is to have your own business cards. For seniors,  WAA offers a small number of free cards to students who respond to an email. For everyone else, we recommend making a small investment in personalized and professionally made cards – check out VistaPrint.

File them Away

After you have made your initial connections with employers, create a filing system for contact information what works best for you. Some people organize their cards in a Rolodex with dates/event names written on the back. Others prefer an electronic method such as excel to store contacts. Sadly, many students simply lose track of connections they meet at various networking events – or feel like they are being too pushy by emailing or calling recruiters to check-in. It’s true – there is a fine line between being too bashful and too pushy, but the bottom line is that you need to communicate with people in your network in order to stay relevant and top of mind. Your connections can lead to opportunities in the future when their company has an opening that fits your interests. Staying organized is key to managing your network.

Use Your Network When Applying

When searching for jobs and internships, make sure to use the network you have created. On LinkedIn, you can actually state that you are actively seeking a job or internship. Make sure your headline says something like “Currently seeking my first challenge” or “Future Science Professional Seeking Internship”. Your connections may see this and have open positions for you. When you apply for jobs, make sure to contact people that may have a connection to the job. Maybe they work for the company, or know someone who does. Again – your connections can’t help you if you don’t reach out to them. LinkedIn comes in handy here again – send them a simple message inquiring about the open position asking if they think you would be a good fit for the position. If (and when) they say “yes”, you can actually make reference to this referral in your cover letter. This will help your application really stand out. Many companies have a referral policy that could even result in an automatic interview if candidates refer to a current employee.

A powerful network can do wonderful things for you when you are applying to internships or full-time positions. As the old saying goes – it’s often not what you know, but who you know. Remember – online connections are great – but nothing takes the place of face time. Make sure to keep attending events and going to career fairs.

Tweet

As the Ten Days of Career Services nears the end, today we recommend a simple task, “Organize Your Professional Network”.  You likely met a lot of people at the Spring Career and Internship Fair and got their business cards.  Take the time today to organize those business cards and put them in a safe place for the future.  You never know when you will need them. You might consider a contact spreadsheet with the name/ company and contact information for each person you met. Go the extra mile and include dates when you have contacted them – or plan to contact them. You should also include a little note about a few memorable things that you talked about. This will help you refer back to the conversation.

Now is also the time to add your connections to your LinkedIn profile.  It is an easy way to stay connected  and is a way to network with people in the future.  If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, take the time today to create a profile.  Fill out everything, you can pretty much take things from your resume.  Begin to make connections with your friends and any people in the industry you know.  As you go to more networking events, gather business cards and add people into your network.  People are always willing to connect with others – especially students.  There are also jobs posted on LinkedIn.

You have worked hard this week – make sure to enjoy today and Friday and have a great weekend! Tune in on Friday for our blog about “Leveraging your Connections” where we will dive a little deeper into the concept of making your connections really work for you as you seek internships and jobs. Remember – all this networking stuff is learned – no one is born knowing the best ways to connect with professionals. As always – we are here to help, drop us a line career@cals.wisc.edu

Tweet

As busy students, sometimes you have to make choices with your time….and on Monday - you simply were not able to make it to the Spring Career and Internship Fair. You have a bit of catching up to do, but all is not lost. CALS Career Services is here to help you connect with the companies that were at the event last night – and as always – we have resources to assist with resumes, interviews, job searching and more.

For starters, stop in to 116 Ag Hall today from 1-4 for the list of all the employers who attended the fair. If you have specific companies you are looking to connect with, we are happy to provide contact information. Over the years, we have also developed a pretty comprehensive list of websites that students have found helpful. If you are not able to make it in to the office, BuckyNet is the most effective way to research the companies who attended the fair.

Another reason to use BuckyNet is for job postings. Every job posting that makes its way to CALS Career Services will be posted to BuckyNet. At any given time, there are over 1,000 jobs posted. Don’t forget that CALS students have access to jobs posted for other schools and colleges on campus. Be broad in your search rather than looking only for jobs in your major. All employers in the BuckyNet system have provided a direct link to their company websites – make sure to check out jobs posted on company “careers” section.

Another great resource available to any UW-Madison student is WISCareers.  This site allows you to find links to job postings, learn about different career options and even take assessment tests to determine the right career path for you.  There is a related CALS Career Services blog post that dives deeper into this resource. To get started with WISCareeers, log-in to your my.wisc.edu account and click on Work Record.  Then scroll all the way to the bottom where you will see a WISCareers tab and then click on it.

Several other resources CALS Career Services uses to post jobs on BuckyNet include the AgJobNetwork, Wisconsin Job Network, USA Jobs and Job Center of Wisconsin.

Always remember – the best thing any job seeker can do to help their chances of getting a position is to keep at it! Between online tools, networking, talking to advisors and professors – you are bound to learn about openings that suit you. Make sure to contact CALS Career Services for support and keep up the great work!