Director of Employer Outreach
Law Career Services
Part 3 of our networking series provides a list of "top networking tips" shared by our panel of GGU alums during the LCS sponsored event “Leveraging Your Network to Create Professional Opportunities.”
Based on their collective experiences in practice, our panelists advised law students and recent graduates to do the following:
• Use “please” and “thank you.” Nowadays many people forget to use these simple words yet they remain important. Manners go a long way regardless of your age or profession!
• Avoid typos and grammatical errors. Proofread your written communications multiple times to ensure they are completely free of mistakes. TIP: try reading your message backwards one word at a time to find small mistakes that you may inadvertently miss when skimming.• Remember to collect business cards. After meeting a new person, jot down a few key details about your conversation on the back of their business card so you can reference this information in future conversations.
• Write a thank you card. Nowadays most people rely on email. With this small gesture you will automatically distinguish yourself in a positive manner. Additionally, emails often get lost in a person’s inbox, whereas physical mail sits on their desk in plain view. In the substance of your message consider asking to schedule coffee or an informational interview.
• Be persistent. Attorneys have many different factors competing for their limited time. Just because you do not hear back from someone does not mean they are purposely ignoring you. Set yourself a reminder to follow up and check-in with the person if you don’t receive a response after a week.
Law Career Services is always here to discuss these topics or answer any of your questions. Please reach out - we would love to hear from you! Contact us via email: lawcareer@ggu.edu or by telephone: (415) 442-6625.
Click here to read Part 1 and here to read Part 2.
