Find opportunities to talk to employers and alumni. Use informal events at the University, in your School and socially to become more confident talking to potential employers.
Ask friends, family and other contacts about their own careers (most people love talking about themselves). Talk about your future with your friends, share tips and ideas and give each other moral support - it's easier to attend employer events if you go with a friend.
Connect - how are you doing?
The most important networking you will probably do is to build a community of people you can rely on to help you through the tough times and celebrate with you when things go well.
We've also found that one of the common factors of students who got quickly into careers of their choice was that they shared advice, information and support about careers between their friends and families.
If you hear of careers events, jobs or opportunities, who could you tell who might be interested?
Who knows what sort of careers you are interested in? If no-one knows, how can people help you? How could you keep everyone you know up to date with your career plans?
What sort of activities could bring you new "supporters"? Family celebrations, student society events, sporting teams - you never know who knows someone in your ideal career.
The Careers Service We're passionate about finding ways to support you and love hearing from you. You can come and talk to us in The Atrium in Uni Place, on pop-up stalls all over campus, by email, phone or Skype. You can come to employer events on and off campus, and use CareersLink, your careers account with access to hundreds of live jobs and details of thousands employers - and if you don't know where to start, just ask our very friendly & knowledgeable Information Staff on 0161 275 2829.
If you have a career in mind, there might be a professional association you could join. Taking part in local or national activities would put you in contact with people who could help you learn about that career (or who may turn out to be a future interviewer). Try Totalprofessions.com for a directory of UK professional associations.
Mentoring - the University of Manchester's Manchester Gold mentoring programme has hundreds of mentors in a wide range of professions, all wanting to advise and support our students.
Alumni events in Schools - many Schools draw on our alumni to come and interact with our students, in informal events or at presentations. Ask your School if they have a "Meet the professionals" event coming up.
Future entrepreneurs - watch out for the Ideas Factory events at the Manchester Enterprise Centre, with lunchtime talks with guest entrepreneurs.
Student societies such as AIESEC and Bright Futures link students to the world of work outside universities. Have a look to see the wide range of opportunities which UMSU has to offer.
Job search guide - our pdf guide to the hidden job market, including tips on the etiquette of networking and examples of how to make approaches, in writing and in person.
Using LinkedIn LinkedIn is a professional network used by millions of people worldwide. Even while you're a student, you can create a LinkedIn profile to use as your online CV, join groups to connect with people in specific careers, locations or alumni groups, and get access to some excellent career research tools.
How do you find career contacts?