The vast majority of all jobs are gotten through referrals. A recruiter is much more likely to see your resume and consider you, if someone recommends you. This is why it's so important to stay in contact with your classmates, coworkers, and members of clubs and organizations. LinkedIn makes networking a lot easier with inmail and groups, and it's always a good idea to save people to your phone or email contacts.
Networking is a give and take, and you shouldn't expect to get something before giving anything. There are a lot of ways to do this including sharing interesting articles, information, or job opportunities they may be interested in. You could also just send a message seeing how things are going for them. On LinkedIn it's easy to see when someone has changed jobs or received a promotion - congratulate them.
If you go to a networking event, dress nicely, but you don't typically need to be in full business attire. If you have business cards, bring them and give them to people you talk to. Networking events or organization meetings usually have time set aside to mingle, this is a great time to use your elevator speech to introduce yourself. Make sure you ask the other person what they do and what they're interested in, take notes on the back of their business card so they're easier to remember.
After the event, email them or connect with them via LinkedIn, make sure you say where you met them and that you're interested in staying in touch.
Have you started networking yet? What has worked best for you? Let me know in the comments!
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