Alumni & Other Contacts
Without knowing it, you are already an expert at making contact with people you know or don’t know, whether that’s with fellow classmates, friends of friends, or professors and TAs. If you apply this concept of meeting people and maintaining relationships to a professional setting and purpose, you have what is called “networking” or developing contacts. Interviewing one of your contacts to gather information about a career or organization is often called "informational interviewing."
Developing contacts is useful for:
- Learning about what careers are out there and what they are like.
- Understanding the culture unique to an organization or industry.
- Finding out about job leads and getting referrals.
- Practicing skills similar to those used in interviewing for a position.
- Building a network of professional relationships that can be useful throughout your career.
Contacts can help you get your foot in the door, give you the “inside scoop”, and in the process help you clarify your own career goals and interests.
As a Princeton student, you can easily develop contacts by connecting with alumni through the Alumni Careers Network (ACN). Learn where else to look and what to say, and you’ll be well on your way to adding this important skill to your career-building toolbox.