Let's Build Bridges

Let's Build Bridges
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Friday 28 February 2014

Networking Into a Business, How to Get Recommended


Networking effectively from higher education into business, is a very important part of student-Alumni relations, and it therefore something I'd like to comment on.
Students have been taught to speak only to the managers, or to the highest member of the organisation they can contact,  to network their way into an organisation. However, to be blunt, this approach will get them nowhere. It is standard practise among most businesses, that executive and high level management cannot be contacted directly. All calls, queries, and letters must come through their PA’s, who may simply discard them, or redirect them to the normal application routes. No matter how impressive the student’s liaising, or how brilliant his or her resume, the manager simply will not hire someone who is not known or recommended to him or her.
The student’s persistence will only serve to annoy the PA’s and secretarial staff on the other end, who have to take time out of their work to deal with the many speculative letters, cold calls and email queries that come their way. And to the student, the constant rejection by potential employers, can be soul destroying, even for business students, who are taught to be prepared for it.  Personal contact may also not be enough. Meeting face to face with their employer will make a difference to a graduate’s chances, but the question at the back of the recruiter’s mind is ‘if I take you on, what will you the candidate, give me in return?’
So here is a solution that I propose, both to help student-Alumni networking, and to motivate the students and Alumni to work together. I suggest that as part of their final year’s assignments, students are made to work directly with the Alumni. A selected student must learn the culture of that Alumnus' workplace, through mentoring and coaching. The student, in return, looks at ideas and innovations that could help the Alumnus in the course of their work. Let’s face it, we have a dozen headaches in the workplace everyday, and it would help to have a fresh perspective from a student of the profession, who can think outside the box, and come up with something new.
The difference between this arrangement and the existing mentoring schemes, is that it could be made a formal, integrated part of each student’s course. Since the larger organisations already have arrangements in place for knowledge transfer, the students’ ideas could be used to help Alumni with smaller businesses they know; or at a more basic level of a big organisation. If an agreement could be secured between the university and the business, then the student's assignment could become a module of their final year. 

The student would have to demonstrate that she or he had made every effort to solve the problem or issue that was agreed upon. It may not always be possible to find a solution, but the student’s ideas and suggestions will have made a difference to the Alumnus, making life a little easier in his or her profession.

I realise that placements of this kind do exist in some professions. For example, here in the UK, the Knowledge Transfer Partnership has arranged this with many universities, colleges and businesses. But my understanding is that student to business networking is arranged by their Partnership on a strategic level. That is brilliant for the students who are taking part: but I say that this option should be considered and promoted systematically, throughout our knowledge economy: for students of all professions, at all colleges and universities. Even the professions that are more individually focussed can benefit from student innovation. For example, full time musicians could benefit from new databases of clients, or improved booking systems for their concert work.
The Alumnus who works with the student can then recommend him or her, to one of the managers higher up in the business, or to another connection known to the Alumnus. As we know, a recommendation by someone in the profession goes a long way to ensuring that a graduate can secure the job of his or her choice.
In this way, we will save a lot of frustration on both sides of the application process, and make it easier for all, by arranging formal agreements between the students and Alumni. Cold calling businesses, without tangible results to offer, will not work. Students may still have better luck with the small to medium enterprises; but for these and especially for the larger organisations, it is better for their colleges and universities to have formal arrangements in place for the students to work as interns. The Alumni give the students coaching and mentoring as before; and in return, the students give the Alumni their ideas and innovations, to help the Alumni in their professions.

That is what I propose.

I welcome your thoughts on this.


1 comment:

  1. An interesting point that has been raised on this so far, is about the training of Alumni to mentor and coach the students. Not all Alumni are qualified to do this, and in some cases, other adults may need to be found.

    If you are having trouble finding the right kind of mentors in an organisation, to help the students, then I personally recommend using the managers or administrators. These people are used to supervising others, and imparting information clearly. Even if they aren't qualified mentors, the ones I know are highly competent. They can learn fast.

    That is the solution I would recommend, to find the right kind of mentor, for a student to work with.

    ReplyDelete

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