As a student, you can do a lot of things on your own: learn the material, hand in assignments, take exams. Once you’re job hunting, though, you need to learn about jobs from different people, and you need people to get to know you and what you can do.
I used to sum up why these connections matter in one line: who you know can shape what you’re able to go after, and who knows you can open up new options when you need them.
There isn’t a really good Chinese translation for networking. People sometimes call it zhao guanxi, “finding connections,” which makes it sound like something parents line up for their kids. But international students can meet alumni, people in the field, and recruiters on their own, and build these connections over time.
Take the First Step. You Don’t Have to Become an Extrovert First.
Plenty of students are polite and eager to learn, yet they’ll spend an hour on one message and still not send it. They’re afraid their English isn’t good enough, unsure what they’d talk about, and worried the other person will think, “Who are you to reach out to me?”
When you first started school and joined the freshman group chat, adding older students and asking them about classes and professors, you were doing something similar. Once the setting is work and the other person has a job at some company, it’s easy to pile a lot of pressure onto the conversation.
I’m an introvert myself. There was a time when I couldn’t get a single networking email out in an hour, and once I did, I’d be on edge afterward. As I got used to the process, I could sometimes pick my targets and send several messages in half an hour, and some of them would turn into calls. What changed was repetition. I didn’t suddenly turn into an extrovert.
You don’t have to become a great conversationalist first. Start with a real question, find someone who knows more about it, and politely ask whether they’d be willing to talk. People are often more willing to help than you expect, as long as you ask, and take the help they give you seriously.
Be Clear About Why You’re Reaching Out
A referral is one possible result of networking, but you can’t measure every conversation only by whether it got you one.
I’ve had students going into tech find alumni from their school on LinkedIn, talk with them, and then send over a resume and ask for a referral. It worked well. But in the campus recruiting I’m familiar with at some banks, consulting firms, and Big Four firms, applications go mainly through the campus process, and a referral from a regular employee doesn’t play the same role it does in experienced hiring or in other industries. Whether there’s a channel depends on the firm and the role.
Beyond referrals, these conversations can help you learn at least three things: what the job actually involves day to day, what the interviews focus on, and whether you really want to do this work. You may also meet a mentor who keeps giving you advice afterward, or even get early contact with people involved in hiring.
The clearer you are about what you need, the easier it is to ask good questions. While you’re still exploring industries, focus on learning. If you’re about to graduate and looking for a specific role, you can say directly that you’re job hunting instead of circling around “I’d love to learn.”
Over time I’ve come to think the goal of networking is to turn the verb into a noun, going from the one-time act of reaching out to a relationship that lasts. Not everyone has to become close to you, but you do need to remember the conversation and leave room for it to continue.
Who to Contact: Start with Your Target Role and What You Have in Common
First get the basics on your LinkedIn profile in order, so anyone who clicks on it can see your school, your experience, and your direction. Start connecting with classmates, teachers, club members, and alumni you know, and don’t limit yourself to your most familiar Chinese-speaking circle.
I used to suggest building up 200 to 300 connections first, to widen the range of people you reach. But that number isn’t a threshold you have to hit before contacting people in the field, and there’s no need to add lots of strangers just to pad the count. Find the right alum today, and you can message them today.
When you search, combine your school’s name with a company, a role, or a skill, such as Goldman Sachs, investment banking, consulting, strategy, data, or operations. A club or program of some size that you’ve been part of is also worth searching for, to find shared experiences.
When I look at someone’s profile, I focus on which team she’s on, what she actually does, and whether that experience relates to what you want to learn. A title like analyst or associate doesn’t tell you enough on its own. Look further at the responsibilities and the department, and don’t assume you know what she does from that one word.
In finance, for example, investment banking, sales and trading, asset management, wealth management, and research, as well as risk, operations, compliance, treasury, and internal audit, involve very different work. Even when a title includes asset management, if operations follows it, the responsibilities may differ from those of the person you were looking for. Quant and strats roles have their own technical requirements too, so look at the specific work.
These are common terms for telling areas apart, not a standard org chart every firm follows. The safest approach is to read your target firm’s descriptions of its divisions and roles first, then find the matching people.
A few priorities can help you narrow things down:
- To learn about a team as it is now, start with people still in the relevant role. People who’ve left are valuable too, but separate how things were when they were there from how things are now.
- When other things are equal, contact alumni, people from your clubs, or people with shared experiences first. It’s easier to find something to open with.
- Look for the location and role you actually want. If you want to work in finance in New York, don’t reach out only to people in other cities just because New York feels harder.
- Try to ask questions that fall within the other person’s experience. To learn about sales and trading (S&T), find people who do that work. When you’re talking with someone in investment banking (IB), ask her to recommend the right person to contact.
The same goes for the Big Four. The firms don’t name or divide their advisory, consulting, and other practices in exactly the same way, so figure out what the person does before you ask what you really want to know.
How to Write the First Message
Your first message needs to tell the other person quickly: who you are, why you’re reaching out to her, and what you’d like to talk about.
Common ground can be the same school, the same club, or similar internships. It can also be that she’s already made a career switch you’re considering. If there’s no strong common ground, that’s fine. Saying specifically which part of her experience interests you opens up more conversation than generic praise like “Your background is so impressive.”
Below are short templates based on wording I’ve used before. Replace the brackets with your own real information. Go by whatever length limit the platform shows when you send; there’s no need to fill every character.
Hi [Name], I’m a [year/program] student at [School]. I noticed that you also attended [School] and now work in [team/field]. I’d love to learn about your experience moving into this area. Would you be open to connecting? Thank you!
When the common ground is career-related, you could write:
Hi [Name], I’m [brief background]. Your transition from [field A] to [field B] caught my attention, as I’m exploring a similar move. Would you be open to connecting? I’d appreciate learning about your experience.
In an email, or anywhere you can send a longer message, say a bit more about yourself and what you’re asking for. The following is a sample of how to write it, not a word-for-word record of a real exchange:
Subject: [School] student interested in your work in [field]
Hi [Name],
My name is [Name], and I’m a [year/program] student at [School]. I came across your profile while learning about [field/team]. I was particularly interested in your experience with [specific role or transition].
I have been working on [relevant coursework, project or internship], and I’m trying to understand [specific question]. If you have time, would you be open to a brief call about your experience?
I’m available [time windows and time zone], but I’d be happy to work around your schedule.
Thank you for your time.
Best,
[Name]
If you’ve heard the person speak at an in-person event, mention the specific event and what interested you: what you heard, and why you want to learn more. Don’t just say “I attended your talk” and leave her guessing which one.
Email can be a channel too, but first make sure the address comes from a reliable source and is appropriate for professional contact. Guessing someone’s address doesn’t mean you have a relationship; your first email still needs to introduce you clearly.
No Reply? Check These First
No reply to a first message doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough. The person may be busy, may not have seen it, or may not have time right now. But if you’ve written to a batch of well-chosen people and heard nothing from any of them, it’s worth looking at the message itself.
First check whether you picked relevant people, then whether your request is too broad. Someone who has just met you will struggle to answer “What should I do with my career?” but can answer “How did you move from audit to this team?” Messages that are too long, have no clear question, or ask the person to line up a job for you right away also make replying harder.
When you adjust, you don’t have to rewrite everything at once. Fix the most obvious thing first, such as swapping a vague question for a specific one, and then see what response you get from similar targets. With only a handful of messages sent, don’t rush to declare that a template definitely works or definitely doesn’t.
After a reasonable amount of time, send a short follow-up in the same thread so she knows what you’re following up on. If there’s still no answer after one reminder, move on to other good contacts. Being proactive and nagging are different things, and you don’t need to stake your job search on whether one stranger writes back.
Once Someone Agrees to Talk, Get the Logistics Right
Thank the person first, then offer a few time slots with the time zone marked. Give her as much choice as you can, and ask whether she’d prefer a phone call or video.
Once the time is set, ask which email address to send the calendar invite to, and send it. Put both names and the topic in the title, include the meeting link or phone number, and double-check the time zone. It’s a small step, but it keeps the two of you from having different ideas about when and how you’re meeting.
If you need to reschedule, tell her ahead of time. The fact that she’s “doing you a favor” doesn’t mean the appointment deserves less care than a formal meeting.
How to Handle the Call: Come Prepared, and Listen
Before the call, prepare a short self-introduction and a few questions tied to what you want from this conversation. You don’t need to recite your whole resume. It’s enough for her to know where you are, what you’ve done, and why you want to talk about this area.
Open with a little small talk, then say what you’d like to talk about. For example:
I’m exploring roles in [field], and I’d like to understand what your team does day to day and what you’d recommend preparing at my stage.
Or:
I’m particularly interested in your transition from [field A] to [field B]. I’d love to understand what helped you make that move.
That way she can tell which parts of her experience will be most useful to you.
What to Ask, and Why
“What do you do day to day?” is a good starting point, but you can get more specific: what a typical recent project was, which part she was responsible for, and what takes up most of her time. That helps you see whether the job you’ve been imagining differs from the real one.
Asking “Why did you choose this industry or team?” shows you how she made her decisions. Later, when you answer a why question in an interview, you can combine what you learned with your own experience to form your answer. Don’t memorize her reasons and present them as yours.
Asking “What should someone at my stage prioritize?” helps you decide where to spend your study time. When she gives advice, follow up: why that matters, how to practice in a way that’s closer to the actual job, and whether she’d recommend any materials or projects.
Career changes are worth asking about too, such as why she switched directions or how different teams compare. Keep the questions about career decisions, go as far as she’s comfortable going, and don’t push on personal reasons she doesn’t want to get into.
Don’t Just Collect Answers. Let Her Get to Know You a Little.
A lot of students prepare plenty of questions, but after each answer they just say “thank you” or “this sounds good” and jump to the next one. They do get the information, but the other person comes away not really knowing who the student is.
When she says something that connects to you, bring in a bit of your own experience naturally. If she mentions a kind of project and you’ve done something similar, briefly say what problem you ran into, then ask how she handles it in her actual work. Coming from the same club she did gives you something else to talk about: how the club has changed since.
You don’t need to follow every answer with a pitch about yourself. The goal is to let her see that you understood, that you’re thinking, and that this conversation is actually relevant to you.
If you’re not a natural talker, it’s fine to work through your list of questions at first. As you get comfortable, practice following up on what she says. You don’t have to get through all ten questions you prepared. A conversation with real substance is worth more than mechanically checking boxes.
Leave Room for Silence, and Respect the Time You Agreed On
Pauses are normal the first time two people talk. Take a few seconds to gather your question, or just say you’d like to make sure you understood what she said. There’s no need to fill every second and muddle a question that was clear to begin with.
If you agreed on twenty minutes, mention it as you get close and ask whether it’s all right to ask one last question. If she has time and wants to keep going, that’s extra help on her part. Don’t assume her schedule is open-ended.
Afterward, don’t just ask yourself whether it was awkward. It’s more useful to write down what new information you got, which of your earlier judgments needs adjusting, what you’ll do next, and whether this person is someone to keep in touch with.
Two Conversations That Directly Helped My Job Search
Two months into my freshman year, I met a recruiter from Deloitte. She told me there was a Pioneer Program for freshmen that year.
I was worried that I had no work experience, so I also asked how to write my resume. She said I could include high school activities, as long as they showed transferable skills like leadership and teamwork. So I went on to tell her about what I’d done in high school, which let her get to know me better.
She told me I could get in touch with her after I applied. So I applied, followed up with her, and after three rounds of interviews got the internship offer. From there I kept getting return offers, all the way through later internships and a full-time job.
The second was in my sophomore year. Goldman Sachs alumni came to campus to recruit, and I signed up in advance for a coffee chat, where I met Victoria. She was a VP at the time and had also worked at a Big Four firm, so we had plenty in common to talk about. I asked about her move from the Big Four to Goldman, and we talked about the clubs she’d been in at school.
That conversation is how I found out about Goldman’s women’s diversity program. I applied, and I kept her updated on my progress. At the career fair a few days later, I went to find her and talked with her again about my application plans.
Later, at the superday, one of the interviewers asked me, unprompted, whether I knew Victoria. The interviewer said Victoria had spoken very highly of me, which was why she had wanted to sit in on my interview. In the end I got the internship offer, and later the full-time return offer.
Both conversations were directly connected to how my job search turned out, but there were still applications, preparation, and interviews in between. They were also only two of many networking conversations. I had my share of messages nobody answered and conversations that went nowhere.
For me, what was most worth holding on to was that each of them made my next step clearer and wanted to hear how things went afterward. You never know who the people you know might know, but you can take every bit of help in front of you seriously.
Thanks and Follow-Up: Why I Insist You Actually Do It
Writing a thank-you note after the call is something I keep stressing. My habit is to finish it within about twenty minutes, while the conversation is still fresh, and briefly write down my thanks and what I took away. That’s a way to make myself act promptly. Minute twenty-one isn’t suddenly rude; what matters is not putting it off until you forget.
Why write again when you already said thank you on the call? Because spoken words fade quickly. An email keeps a record of the conversation and makes it easier to pick up the thread next time.
It doesn’t have to be long. Thank her for her time, mention one or two specific takeaways, and say what you plan to do next. Here’s a sample:
Hi [Name],
Thank you for speaking with me today. Your explanation of [specific topic] helped me understand [specific takeaway]. I’m going to [concrete next step] based on your suggestion.
I really appreciate your advice and will keep you posted on how it goes.
Best,
[Name]
What matters even more is the follow-up later. Let her know whether you applied to the program she mentioned, whether you started learning a skill she recommended, and whether you got the offer in the end. Out of the hundreds of people I’ve advised, I could count on my fingers the ones who thanked me and then came back to tell me how things went. Plenty of those hundreds were at top schools. That’s why I say that if you do this properly, you’ll get ahead of 90% of people.
That’s an observation from my teaching, and I’m sharing it so you know how easily this gets skipped. When someone spends time giving you advice and never finds out what happened next, it’s hard for her to know whether her help was useful, and hard to keep offering support that fits your situation. Your follow-up is how she knows you really valued the conversation.
Even if you didn’t get the offer, it’s worth following up. Tell her you applied, which round you reached, and how you plan to adjust. You don’t have to succeed to earn the right to get back in touch, and you certainly shouldn’t make up a good result to please her.
Without big news, there’s no need to put together a report card on a schedule. Around three months can be a checkpoint to remind yourself to look back over your contacts, but if something real happens sooner, it’s completely fine to tell her then. Replying in the original email thread makes it easier for her to remember your earlier conversation.
If You Want a Referral or Need a Job Soon, Say So
Once you know each other fairly well and you’re about to apply for a related role, you can ask whether she’d be willing to look over your resume, explain the hiring process, or, if company rules allow, refer you. For consulting, you can also ask whether she’d have time for a mock case.
If an application deadline is coming up fast and there’s no time to build a relationship over months, you don’t need to pretend you’re just exploring in general. Say which role you saw and why you think it fits, then make your request politely:
I saw the opening for [role] and think my experience in [relevant area] could be a good fit. Would you feel comfortable referring me, or suggesting the best way to apply?
It’s completely normal if she wants to get to know you first, or says she isn’t in a position to. Agreeing to a twenty-minute chat doesn’t mean she’s promised to refer you. Thank her for whatever information she gives you and keep moving your application forward.
Those who are close to graduating, or who have already graduated, can also reach out in a more targeted way to hiring managers, VPs, MDs, or partners. Senior people may understand a team’s needs better and may be able to introduce you to the right person, but you need to be ready to explain what you can bring.
For example: that you understand what the team does, which of your past experiences is relevant, and what kinds of problems you can help solve. If all you say is “I’m very eager to learn,” she still won’t know whether she has a suitable opportunity for you.
Say it plainly:
I’m looking for opportunities in [field]. My experience in [specific work] is relevant to [team need]. Do you know of any teams that are hiring, or anyone you would recommend speaking with?
To go a step further, read what she’s published about the industry, and use your own research, projects, or experience to ask a specific question or add a point of view. That’s what I mean by SHOW your interest, NOT TELL: letting your preparation come through in what you talk about.
You don’t need to sound deep on purpose. Don’t borrow ideas you don’t understand yet just to sound professional; if she asks a follow-up, you need to be able to explain what your view is based on.
Let the Connection Continue Naturally
Staying in touch isn’t only about email. When you see her share something on LinkedIn that relates to you, read it carefully, leave a comment, or share your own take. It’s like a friend who posts updates on social media now and then: even without chatting all the time, you have a better sense of what she’s been up to.
But don’t leave empty praise on every post just to stay visible. Comment when you have a real response. Quality matters more than frequency.
If a connection never gets past polite replies, you don’t have to force everyone into being a mentor. Consider whether you lack common ground, whether she’s short on time right now, or whether your questions have moved beyond her experience. Stay respectful, and put more of your energy into people who want to talk and are relevant to where you’re headed.
Later on, several of my former managers reached out on their own after they changed firms to tell me about opportunities at their new companies. Those connections went well beyond the job where we first met, and they made me believe even more that relationships worth keeping up over the long run are a very important part of what a job search gives you.