Networking for your career

There are more vacancies in the hidden jobs market than there are advertised vacancies. Employers have many reasons for not advertising these vacancies. For example, they would prefer to ask their contacts for recommendations, or they may know somebody who could do the job. You could be that ‘somebody’.

Networking for beginners

Networking is a skill that you can develop. While it can feel daunting at first, you will become competent at it with practise.

Everybody has a different understanding of networking, but fundamentally, it's about making and maintaining professional contacts.
Penny Beecroft, OU Careers and Employability Consultant.

Try to shake off any expectations that you have about networking, both good and bad, and think of it as a chance to get to know people. While the ultimate goal of your networking is to support your careers, you may also be able to make friends and help other people along the way. Remembering networking is beneficial for everyone may make it feel easier. Keep in mind it is not about selling yourself, but about finding ways to connect with other people.

There really is no secret to starting a conversation with someone. Commenting on the weather or asking about the event, the food or other person's journey are all good ways to strike up a conversation with someone new. If you're a current OU student or completed your study within the last three years you can access our  Conversation starters cheat sheet which is a helpful tool to prepare for networking opportunities. If you're not sure how to sign-in see Help with signing into OU systems. You’ll find more information about our careers tools and services, including how to manage your data in About the Careers and Employability Services.

Sometimes we can worry that the people we would like to network with won't want to network with us and this feeling can be a barrier. Have a look at this webinar to help with confidence:

Networking woes to networking pro

Informal networking

A good place to start is by looking at your existing network. Think about everyone you know: your friends, family, professional contacts, and other social contacts. You might find it useful to draw a mind map or spider diagram to visualise clearly how you know everyone. There’s an example below.

Spider diagram showing possible contacts in the centre with branches to work, family, friends, university, volunteering. Each of these branches then connects to names. some of these names are labelled with job titles, such as 'manager' and 'youth worker'. — Example networking spider diagram

Another way to build your network of contacts is to get in touch with someone working in a field that interests you and ask for an informational interview.

An informational interview is a one-to-one meeting where you can find out what someone's job is really like. It's a chance for you to find specific information about a particular role and sector. For more information, you can read this article on informational interviews.

Networking with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the main social media platform for professionals which many recruiters use to search for people who have the skill set they’re looking for, so it's a great place to start networking. Developing your network with LinkedIn could help you to:

Understand different sectors and roles.
Find out about new job roles.
Learn about specific employers.
Find new customers if you have your own business.
Access information, support and advice.
Get familiar with approaching and being approached by recruiters.

Before you start you may want to see our advice on creating a LinkedIn profile in Create a professional profile or portfolio for job applications.

Start building your network with people you already know. See LinkedIn's guide and 5-minute video to help you find and add connections. LinkedIn also offers further suggestions based on your contacts. Find out more in Your Network and Degrees of Connection.

Here are five tips to help you further develop your network and build relationships:

1. Develop your own connection strategy. Think about who you want to reach out to and accept requests from. For example, this could be those in your current sector or a sector you're interested in moving into.

2. Be personal when reaching out. LinkedIn allows you to personalise your connection requests which is a good way of introducing yourself if it’s someone you don’t know or is only an acquaintance.

3. Keep active. Share relevant updates in your news feed, comment on articles and in groups, and offer your insights on events. Activity like this increases your visibility to other members.

4. Find and join a LinkedIn group. You could start by joining The Open University Careers Network (TOUCaN) then use the 'Discover groups' tab next to 'Your groups' for further suggestions. You may even want to start your own group. Find out more in Find and join a LinkedIn Group.

5. Publish an article. This is a great way to share your thoughts, demonstrate your capabilities and interact with people who comment on your article. See LinkedIn’s help page for Tips for writing articles on LinkedIn.

Making the best use of employer fairs and events

Employer fairs are designed to support you networking with employers. While this can feel challenging, many OU students have benefitted from them. Consider your goals before attending the event. For example, you may want to:

Build your knowledge of a sector.
Find out more about specific organisations and their recruitment processes.
Understand the scope and range of different jobs within a sector.
Identify the skills that employers value.
Understand how employers view the experience that you already have.

The OU regularly holds in-house online careers fairs for students, but you may also want to look for other fairs that are specific to the sector you want to work in. A regular check of the top careers websites for your sector should help to uncover any suitable events. Some large organisations hold their own events that you can also register to attend, so checking the websites and LinkedIn profiles of employers that interest you will keep you up to date.

Here are some top tips for engaging with employers during a fair or at a live event. These will work equally well online and in person:

Create a line or two you can use as a standard introduction for yourself to break the ice.
Research the organisations you’re planning to talk to and ask tailored questions about what you’ve found to show you’re keen. Depending on the organisation questions could include: the sorts of opportunities for new graduates, any training offered, and how the work varies between different teams and roles.
Start networking with organisations that are less important to you so that you are more confident and practised when you speak to the ones that are most important.
Use open-ended questions, questions that cannot be answered with one word, to encourage whoever you’re talking with to take the lead.
Show your genuine interest in other people. Even if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, it's a chance to expand your network and knowledge.
Keep in touch: collect and give out contact details and follow up with your connections after the event via email or LinkedIn (remember not to post your private information publicly).

Making contact with employers

Informal contact

There are many ways to reach out to employers informally rather than waiting for a job to be advertised or by sending in a speculative application (when you contact an employer you are interested in, even though that role is not advertised). Some large employers actively encourage this by holding their own informal events to meet prospective employees and attending employer fairs.

Formal contact

When you are contacting an organisation about working for them a more formal approach will be required, whether this is in response to an advertised position or as a speculative application. Your career planning guide breaks down each step of the career planning journey and helps you identify the role that suits you and how to secure the job you want. Section 4 within this guide, Getting the job, takes you through the process of applying for jobs and provides solutions to the challenges of writing CVs, covering letters, attending interviews, and preparing for assessment centres.

Diversity networks

We may find it difficult to network confidently if we do not see ourselves reflected in how organisations present themselves. Many OU students find their study opens up new but unfamiliar opportunities, such as graduate training programmes or new career sectors.

Diversity networks, such as disability, race or LGBTQ+, exist in all major career sectors. Our Diversity networks guide (PDF 130KB) can help you as a starting point to explore and research further what groups are in existence, how you can join them, and whether a company has partnered with them.

Next steps with networking

If you are an OU student or recent graduate who is already networking with some confidence, but you want to develop your skills further, there are bitesize learning opportunities from the Video Hub to take your networking skills to the next level.

Experienced networkers share their views on what makes effective networking through adapting your approach, using multiple channels, follow up action, and more.
A Career Coach explains the importance of reciprocity in developing your value as a networker.
Smart social networking provides advice on getting the most out of LinkedIn, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) as key social media networks.

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