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After engaging in the soul-searching, career discovery exercises outlined in our Choosing a Career page, you should have some pretty good lists of possible career fields in front of you. Now it's time to see how these lists match with the job descriptions out there in the "real world" and determine which professional avenues you'd like to explore.

Don't panic. Nobody begins life with a full complement of professional associates. In fact, "starting fresh" may work to your advantage.

People are perhaps the most important source of information about new jobs -or, for that matter, careers. There's still a great deal of truth to the familiar phrase, "It's not what you know, but who you know that counts." Today, though, the more accurate variation might be, "It's not only who you know, but also what you know that counts."

The most successful way to get a job is with the help of other people. Ultimately, you'll have to rely on people - even if it's only the person making the final hiring decision. In practice, you'll incorporate a great many more people into your efforts than the one person hiring you. In fact, the more people you involve, the better. It is essential for you to develop a network of people with whom you're on familiar terms and who are within your area of interest.

How To Video Clip
Networking Your Way to a Job

You'll be approaching these people for information. You won't be asking for a job . . . yet. You're after hard facts right now. These facts will be invaluable to you when you pursue the employers you've targeted. At this point you may be saying to yourself, "I don't know anybody! I'm doomed!" Don't panic. Nobody begins life with a full complement of professional associates. In fact, "starting fresh" may work to your advantage. There are several methods of building a network of people to help in your search. First, though obvious, contact the employers themselves. Calling the offices of potential employer can produce many interesting results. Someone will talk with you. Even if you end up talking to someone in personnel, you will begin to find out valuable information.

Reading trade magazines and newspapers is another source of potential contacts. Authors of articles and those featured in articles are potential contacts. If you have done a thorough analysis of an article or profile and convey that knowledge in a letter, you might be surprised by the kind of positive response you get.

Every industry has one or a number of professional associations or clubs. Membership in these clubs or participation in meetings is often open. Go to these meetings and talk to the people there. They will be impressed by your interest and dedication. You will add their names to your contact list. Trade shows and conventions can be fertile contact-making territory. Professionals you speak with may not be prepared to talk about specific career opportunities, but they will most likely take the time to give you information about their companies.

Finally, there is the "old boy" network (in which, thankfully, both "boys" and "girls" seem to be welcome these days). The Williams Alumni Database provides names of alumni/ae who have volunteered to act as advisors to Williams jobseekers. At this time you can only search by career field and location, but even so, the information will be invaluable as you begin your search.

Concentrate not only on people who've been out for some years, but also on more recent grads. Sometimes people near your own age have the best, most practical information as a result of just having gone through the process themselves.

Even if you don't know the person you’re calling, the two of you do have something in common; that alone is usually a valid reason to initiate contact. Ask yourself: "who would you rather help out, a person from Williams, or someone with no obvious common denominator?" Don't be shy. Explore every possible lead. Also, don't forget about your personal contacts: family, friends, faculty, etc. Be pleasantly persistent because those who you contact may not always respond at first . . . it may take a couple of tries, maybe three.

Before you set foot in anyone’s office door you should know as much about that person's line of work as possible. Yes, I know that's why you’re there, but you don't want to waste a session with a valued contacting covering information you could have researched yourself.

So, visit the Office of Career Counseling Library and spend some time reading about the career field of interest. Learn about the basic career ladder. Learn some of the terms, or jargon, of that field. For example, if you are interested in advertising, you should know what a “copywriter” does and how that person interacts with the “A.E.” when getting ready to “shoot” a “spot” for their major “packaged goods account.”

You can find out a lot more about career options in the Career Exploration section of our website.

Williams Alumni Database

You will notice alumni profiles inserted throughout this website. They were selected from the more than 8500 alumni in Williams Alumni Database who have volunteered to act as advisors to students about potential career paths for a Williams graduate. They can give you advice on where and how to look for a summer internship or permanent job in their field. They’ll give you the straight story on what the job, the company, or the industry is all about. You can discover new trends in the industry and turn that information into good interview questions. Some advisors will be able to tell you what to include on your resume to impress recruiters. These advisors can't create jobs, but they can give you all the information you need to get a good start on creating your own. And, utilizing Williams Alumni Database is the best way to begin your networking.

Connect to the Williams Alumni Web Community Database

Once you are in, you can search by job type, geography, class and keyword. Each advisor’s profile will give you contact information. Some advisors will be willing to schedule a meeting with you by phone or during one of your breaks. Make contact even if you are too shy to call! E-mail or write a letter. (For tips on how to do this, see our how-to guides to emails and letters.) Networking cannot begin until you make contact.

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