This is a sponsored feature. All opinions are 100% from Her Campus.
You know what they say: the job and internship hunts are all about who you know. In order to land your dream job after college, it’s essential to use every resource available, and networking can be used very much to your advantage. Everyone seems to know someone who knows someone who can help you establish the career you’ve been working towards, and the more people you know, the better chance that someone can give you that opportunity you need.
But how do you stay connected to all of those contacts? Gone are the days of the Rolodex; now, in our social media-savvy society, a few keystrokes can link you to millions of contacts. Here are a few tips on how to establish your network and utilize it to its best potential.
- Create your professional social media presence. You may have been tweeting, pinning, and tumbling for years, but now it’s time to delve into the career-driven social media outlet: LinkedIn. If you haven’t already, there’s no better time to create a profile on the site, and be sure to keep your profile updated with your latest education and employment status. With LinkedIn, you can connect with and keep in touch with other people who could help you with your job search!
- Keep yourself updated on your contacts. With so many different contacts, it’s essential to stay up-to-date on who’s doing what or going where. Keep all of your contacts organized with tools like the People app on Windows 8. With People, you can connect and monitor all your contacts’ latest updates across your email accounts and social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, so you can stay posted on everyone’s latest employment statuses and endeavors, all while keeping your eyes peeled for contacts who might be valuable resources. You can even “pin” your favorite contacts directly to your Start screen, so you can see real-time updates and messages from them.
- Establish your connections. Friends, family, coworkers, classmates, professors, coaches, bosses—everyone is fair game when it comes to establishing your network. LinkedIn is a great tool for establishing connections with present employers and acquaintances, but also for connecting with contacts from the past so those resources aren’t lost. Building your number of connections is great, but be sure to keep those relationships going after they respond to your LinkedIn requests. Whether it’s grabbing coffee with your old boss or sending an e-mail to your former professor to see how he’s doing, upholding real relationships with potentially useful contacts is just as important as constructing your virtual contact network.
- Leverage your network. You’ve made all those connections for a reason—now it’s time to actually use them! As your job search begins, reach out to contacts you think might be of use to you. Expand your network beyond just family and friends as well; reach out to employers you’d like to work for, former employees at a company of interest, and alumni from your school.
And, as you’re researching jobs and networking with new connections you can quickly e-mail a job listing or resource to yourself (or a friend) to look at later through Windows 8 sharing features, which allow you to share information from a variety of apps or from the web via Internet Explorer 10 – without having to open a separate app.
When it comes to finding employment, never underestimate the value of a contact. All it can take is connecting with the right person to open that door you need!
Want to enjoy #doingmore with Windows 8 and Office 365 University? Get on Twitter and tell us how you’re #doingmore this summer and be sure to tag @HerCampus and @Windows when you do for the chance to win a shiny brand new Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook. Happy tweeting, collegiettes!