Emerson is known to be an extremely collaborative school that gets its students prepared to interact with others as they would in their future fields. This is great, but may seem a bit daunting for students as they’re still just getting to know their classmates. How would I connect professionally to the person in my VMA class who had a project that matches my own style, or the student in my Journalism course who wrote a piece that had a perspective similar to my own?
Luckily, there are multiple hubs online where you can connect to other students in a professional way, instead of awkwardly sliding into their DMs.
This resource is tried and true. LinkedIn is a platform where you can essentially upload a portfolio and resume about your education, experience and best attributes. This way, anyone can find your profile through searching keywords or looking through mutual friends. You could become connected with anyone from potential employers to fellow Emersonians. When you see a profile of a person or company you are interested in connecting with, I would recommend to shoot them a message with 1-2 sentences introducing yourself and your connection to them. People who get a lot of connection requests are more likely to remember you if they recall your message saying, “Hello! I’m ____ and am in class of ____ at Emerson, where I see you have also attended. It’d be great to connect with you!” Also, it’s easy to look through to find a student with a particular skill you need because keywords like “Actor”, “Editor”, “Lighting Designer” etc. should be listed explicitly.
Facebook is still one of the most popular platforms to easily find people in extended circles of your friends/ school. One of the best resources we have for easily communicating with those in our grade is through the Accepted Students of (Grad Year) Facebook groups. Remember when you first got into Emerson and were all excited to write your first post in the group to hopefully meet soon-to-be friends? Now, you can write in there with any inquiries you may have for school, from asking if anyone has a prop you need to inquiring if anyone knows a particular person you’d like to interview for a story to simply asking for a book recommendation. It’s a great resource, as the post could be seen by everyone in the group (most of your grade) and you don’t have to go through the trouble of direct messaging so many people. If someone is compelled, they’ll comment right on your post, which makes communication very easy and could even start a conversation. There are additional Facebook groups for different clubs and organizations on campus too, so definitely check those out as well.
Handshake
Handshake is definitely a useful tool to connect with Emersonians. You have the ability to fill out a profile on your account very similar to LinkedIn, and can even upload your resume. Companies affiliated with Emerson have the ability to view these, and you can look through other students as well to see if some of their skill sets match what you need for a certain project. I’ve seen students who had companies reach out to them first for an internship opportunity because they saw their resume on the Handshake account, so it is definitely worthwhile to fill that out.
If you want to edit your resume before you get it up on Handshake or have any general questions about networking yourself, please make an appointment at the Career Development Center on your Handshake account or come to our walk- in hours Monday- Friday from 1-3pm. Good luck connecting!
