Networking and you
Skillful networking is one of the most important factors in jump-starting your career, yet it's often overlooked. Networking encompasses an array of elements that can be helpful in advancing your career. These elements not only provide opportunities for you to grow and learn, but also to help improve your skills in communication and teamwork.
There are many approaches to networking, each serving to advance both personal and career growth. Here are a few ideas:
- Discuss topics with your peers.
- Find a mentor by joining a mentorship program.
- Join and attend organizational meetings.
- Become part of your school's clubs.
- Attend tutoring sessions and workshops.
- Participate in a hackathon, and build something you're passionate about.
- Contribute to open-source software.
- Join an interest group, or play a sport with other people.
Is networking only for in-person situations?
Not at all! Connecting with others online is a well-established and common way to network. For example, try asking or answering questions on forums or collaborating on websites, such as GitHub, or on other types of open-source projects. These virtual activities provide the same learning and professional growth opportunities as any in-person activities.
Tip
A good site for connecting with people is LinkedIn, an online platform for building your professional network, thoughtfully engaging with your peers, and learning new skills.
How can I get started in networking?
There are numerous ways to get started with networking. The following sections present just a few of them.
Be active on Linked In
You can do a lot of networking from your computer. Linked In has a vast network with both technical peers and also the companies you might want to work for one day. It's a good idea to:
Reach out: reach out to people with similar interests and location, they might be your colleagues one day. Start with people you know and then friends of friends.
Tip
Prefer to send invites to people you've met in real life. Remind people where you've met them, if you saw them speak or do a workshop or similar and you thought they did something well. Genuine compliments will take you far.
Join a group of your interest:, within your field of interest, join a group. Participate in discussions and give compliments if someone posts on a piece of content you've enjoyed.
Tip
Remember to be respectful, others might not have your context, or they your context. Explain why you have a certain opinion.
Share your network with others:. As you grow your network, share both connections and network tips with others, that's how you grow your network on Linked In.
Post about your projects: If you have a project you've made on GitHub for example, that you find is of good quality, well documented and so on, it's a good idea to write a short article on it and post in on Linked In.
Join a student organization
Student organizations provide some of the best opportunities for networking. Their members can interact with you as peers and will most likely share common interests with you. Connecting with them and learning about their experiences while also sharing your own is a great first step in networking.
Participating and collaborating in student organizations will help you develop incredibly valuable life skills, such as communication, time management, and teamwork, through service projects, excursions, hackathons, and other events.
Join the Microsoft Learn student ambassador program
The Student Ambassadors are a global community of like minded students that share a passion for technology and making an impact. You’ll find a diverse and inclusive group that is focused on socially significant issues and technologies, Microsoft experts and mentors who can offer guidance, and resources to help you learn the skills that will help you land your dream job and create opportunities for others.
The reasons to join are many:
Make a difference: Connect with other students who share your passion in focused Leagues and use tech to solve real-world challenges together. This is your chance to create a global network of peers. Having such a network will help you land a job and unlock opportunities in the future. Microsoft has also been known to hire ambassadors as interns, of which some have become full-time employees.
Grow your skills: Kick-start your career with training and certifications, support for virtual events, and unique access to experts and mentors from Microsoft. A certification costs money, and as part of the program, you will be able to certify at no cost. Having a certificate in a cloud technology will make your resume stand out.
Become a leader in your local tech community: Host digital events, offer guidance to other students, and earn recognition that separates your resume from the pack. You will be trained in presenting on different technology topics. Being able to present something well is an important skill to have at your job and as you advance within the company.
What you'll do:
Host events: Host tech events with other student ambassadors but also with folks at Microsoft. Ambassadors have been known to participate as speakers for things like Learn live, Microsoft Ignite, and Microsoft Reactor events.
Create content: You will create various content like blog posts, videos, and even Learn modules.
Build your network: Collaborate with your student ambassadors' peers and Microsoft employees.
Participate in mentoring sessions: Get guidance on tech skills, your resume, and the next steps as you prepare for your career.
Apply to become a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador — new students are accepted quarterly.
Collaborate in open-source projects that interest you
Open-source software, OSS, is software that you can find on, for example, GitHub. The idea is that the software is readable, "open", for all. Most such projects are open to collaborators.
Why participate?
- It's like a real job. Participating in open-source development is much like having a real job. You work on issues, raise bugs, write documentation and so on. For some people, OSS development is part or their paid job, even if that's a bit unusual.
- Learn to work in a team This is your chance to try out collaborative software development in a team, understand what it's like and what skills are needed.
- Networking. There's also the added component of being able to network with other participants on that OSS project.
Participate in hackathons
In a hackathon, you build something in an attempt to solve a problem.
How does it work? A Hackathon consists of a series of steps that happens in a specific order:
- Form a team. During a hackathon, you form a team around a cause or solution and then build a software-based project over a set period of time.
- Build a prototype. At this point, you and your team try to build a prototype to realize your idea.
- Showcase to judges. Now that you have a prototype, hopefully, it's time to present it. In this part, it's important to talk your idea, and your prototype. Make sure you prepare this part well, it's not always the best tech demo that wins, but the best presented one.
So why is a Hackathon worth your time?
- Networking. Hackathons are reliable opportunities to network with peers and meet representatives of interesting companies. Hackathons are often sponsored by companies and company representatives are often in place as mentors or judges. Your conversations might even lead to an interview or an invitation to apply for a job.
- Learn tech skills. A hackathon is a great way to push your tech skills with tech.
- Solve a real problem. A hackathon differs from a course at University in that you try to solve a problem.
Participate in Microsoft Imagine Cup
Microsoft Imagine Cup is a global technology competition just for students. Over the twenty-year history, over 2 million students from more than 160 countries/regions have participated to create innovative and life changing solutions. Some have even turned their projects into a business.
Why participate, what's in it for me?
Shape our world. Reimagine solutions to solve pressing community challenges and create a project to take forward in your career portfolio. Finalists in the 2021 competition addressed everything from child mortality to livestock monitoring.
Nurture your curiosity. Learn more about an area you’re passionate about and unlock curated training and mentorship from Microsoft experts.
Realize your passion. The best ideas are the ones that are built. Transform your ideas into solutions with help along the way. You never know, your idea could be the winning project.
You could win:
- Mentorship from Microsoft experts
- Networking with industry pros
- The chance to showcase your idea
- Cash and Azure credit to continue taking your project to next level
Learn more about 2021 years winner team Reweba - this could be you.
Register for Imagine cup 2022