Great way to network
One of the best places I’ve found to network is your college or university’s website. Find their alumni services page and see if they have an alumni network or alumni career services.
My undergrad school and my graduate school both have them and they allow you to search by industry, job title, location, and all kinds of nifty things.
The first time I went on there I punched in “Copywriter in Chicago” and a whole bunch of names came up. These are professionals with years of experience (one was even the owner of his own agency) that want to help other alums any way they can.
They won’t just come out and give you a job, but in my experience they are genuinely interested in helping you out by answering questions and giving sensible advice. A few of the ones I contacted actually told me to send them my book, that they would go over it and critique it for me (which is HUGE). Unfortunately I didn’t have anything halfway decent to send so I came up with a lame excuse.
I fully intend to use this network once my book is “ready,” and so should you.
Also, be sure to follow GradGirl’s advice on persistence: keep emailing these people over and over until they get back to you. You really have to stay on top of things if you want to hear back and establish a relationship. Sending out one email and waiting just won’t cut it. Trust me, I know from experience.
PS. Here is a handy little list of Networking tips from BusinessWeek at Yahoo Finance.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:57 am
I would have never thought of this. What a great idea!
November 14th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
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