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LinkedIn Alumni Connections for Students

I recently spoke with a few undergraduate classes on campus, a mix of upperclassmen and a few second years. Here鈥檚 what I learned.

LinkedIn is an underutilized resource among college students. Period.

I asked students 鈥淒o you know what you want to do? Do you know someone who currently does that work?鈥� 鈥淒o you know where you want to work? Do you know someone who currently or previously worked there?鈥�

While the students had ideas of what or where they want to work, unfortunately they knew no 鈥渋nsiders鈥� and they were not on LinkedIn.

Looking back to my college days, I probably would have said 鈥渘o鈥� too, but it doesn鈥檛 have to be that way for today's college student.

If you鈥檙e a college student on LinkedIn, congratulations you鈥檝e taken an important step toward building a network, but you may ask 鈥渘ow what.鈥�

Your answer 鈥� begin by connecting with your university鈥檚 alumni. 

Connecting with Alumni is Easy

Alumni love connecting with current students. Connections that begin over a shared major evolve into conversations about career pathways and companies students should research. What鈥檚 more, LinkedIn makes it remarkably easy to build these connections and begin conversations.

When you add a university to the education section of your profile, LinkedIn automatically links your profile to the . This page becomes a door to opening your university鈥檚 global alumni network.

Every university company page has a big blue 鈥淪ee alumni鈥� button 鈥� click that button and you鈥檒l access . Search for alumni by class year, location, company, function, major, skill set and LinkedIn degrees of connection.

Use the search filters to narrow down the listing to a manageable number of records. I recommend using your major under 鈥淲hat they studied鈥� then narrow the list further with geographic or company filters.

Perhaps you study political science and have an interest in living in Denver. Great, narrow your list down based on those two filters. You may still see a long list, but that鈥檚 okay. Scan the headlines, companies and class years to identify three to five alumni of interest. 

Check out their profiles to learn more about their careers and professional involvement. (Yes, LinkedIn tells you when someone sees your profile, but on LinkedIn it is less creepy, it is expected.)

Follow-up a profile view with a connection request. Include a personal note with the connection request, such as mentioning your shared university.

Once connected, you may begin communicating with alumni using the LinkedIn messaging application. Thank each person for accepting your connection, share a bit about yourself, and give a reason why this connection is important to you. Be ready to ask questions and keep the conversation going.

Building a Network Will Take Time

Be present on LinkedIn. Build a habit of posting information of interest; like, comment or share the posts of your connections; and always research new connections.

Is the first connection you make on LinkedIn going to land you a job before you graduate? No, probably not. But it will help build your name and reputation, expose you to industry and company insiders, and help you explore what and where you want to be after college.

Remember, a strong network of alumni are already on LinkedIn ready to connect, but you need to put yourself out there if you want that network to go to work for you.