Summer Networking Top Tips

By all means, take some time after graduation before you jump into a job, but use your time wisely. An essential part of finding a job is networking which luckily you can do whilst you enjoy the summer sun. Here are some tips for finding networking opportunities in your holiday activities, meaning you can be proactive whilst you relax.

Fun Summer Jobs...

You might think that your job at Glastonbury or Camp America won't actually help you in the real world. You only took it so you could get a free ticket or do some travelling afterwards right? Yeah you're there to be with your mates and have a laugh but experience like this is great for CV building and networking. When you arrive, find who is in charge of your team and introduce yourself personally, offering your assistance with anything they need. That way you won't just be 'volunteer 547' on a piece of paper but they can put a face to your name. Throughout your time there make an effort to impress them and afterwards ask them for a reference or email to stay in touch. And voila, you had fun and networked!

Casual Meet-Ups...

Summer is a time for get-togethers. Family reunions, visiting old friends, long summer BBQs... the perfect places to have nice, useful chats with everyone about their job and your career prospects! You might have met them a million times before, but do you actually know what your best friend's dad does? Find out and ask- he might be the director of your dream company (maybe). There is definitely an element of 'who you know not what you know' when it comes to recruitment so have a chat about business over burgers or a debate about designers when your mum's mate pops over for a cuppa. Even if you've known these people for years, re-establish yourself as a young job seeker and stick in their minds- you never know when they might be able to offer you something now they know you are on the lookout.

Recreation...

So you've just spent most of your time catching up with friends, going to the cinema and cafe and restaurant crawling. Pretty irrelevant to your career right? Wrong! You have done all the essential things to start a blog. Review the films you've seen or the places you've been- have you tried that new restaurant in town? Let others know about it! Used a new beauty product? Review it. Use your day to day life to form blog posts and keep a 'graduate diary'-write about whatever you're doing- even if you're just having a great time! Employers love seeing online work and evidence of creative, written flair. If you go on holiday or travel then keep a blog of all your adventures too.

Everything...

Don't discount anything- nothing and no one is irrelevant or unimportant. For each situation and event you find yourself in ask yourself how can I get something out of this/ give something to this. Networking is give and take!