How to Build Your Network

1. Join professional or trade organizations. No better method exists for finding people who share the same professional interests and goals than joining one or more industry organizations. Get the most out of your membership by attending any meetings and conferences offered.

2. Volunteer. Providing your time and effort to a needy cause is perhaps one of the strongest venues for networking because you are working side-by-side with people who share your passion.

3. Attend networking events. Find events from community calendars online, our Career Services Office or in your local newspaper.

4. Join or ramp up your activities on social and professional networking sites. Position yourself as a knowledge leader by participating in online conversations.

5. Conduct informational interviews. As the name implies, it's an interview you initiate with someone in your profession/industry whose brain you can pick about how s/he got their start, moved up the ladder, and so forth.

6. Contact former co-workers, vendors, customers/clients. Many times as we move from job-to-job, employer-to-employer, we lose touch with former co-workers, customers, and the like. These people all had a relationship with you before and could again – you simply need to reconnect with them.