How To Get Your Professors Help Finding a Job

How To Get Your Professors Help Finding a JobNetworking is everything, right? But what if youre only just out of collegeor perhaps leise in college. Who do you have to network with? googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Keep in mind you may be forgetting a valuable resource your profs. They know better than anyone about your skills and performance, and they have professional contacts galore. Theyre also generous And if they know you very well as a student, theyd probably be more than happy to help steer you towards success.Sound great? It is. But its not that easy. There are a few things youll have to do in order for a professor to be willing to vouch for you like that. Here are a few steps you can start with to earn their favor.1. Do the work.It sounds very simple, and it is. But you have to put in the effort. Show up to class. Do the work, and do it well. Speak up in class. Stay engaged. Turn up to office hours. Do your best, humbly accept c riticism, and improve. Showing you can learn from mistakes and act respectfully and grow sets you up very well, indeed.2. Get some face time.Youll need to have a relationship with your professor if theyre going to put their name on the line for you. Send out a beginning-of-the-semester hello email introducing yourself. This will help you stand out early on, especially if you back it up by attending office hours at least semi-regularly. Youll set yourself up well to be on the radargert when you need to ask a favor.3. Be helpful to get help.Offer to help with your professors clinical trial or big research project. You might have to start small as you build experience, but eventually youll learn a ton and gain their trust and respect. And that way when you ask for help, it wont be entirely one-sided.4. Ask for a recommendation letter.A recommendation letter is a great gateway to other kinds of career help. Youll definitely need references in your first flurries of job applications. Try ing to find your first job can be daunting and confusing, and a letter from your professor can really help make all the difference.5. Seek informational interviews.You can also ask your professor for help setting you up with their professional contacts for informational interviews to get a sense of what working in a particular industry will be like. Asking for referrals to contacts and introductions is a smaller leap than asking for help finding a job. And if you make them proud youll be well-placed to ask them for the bigger stuff later on.6. Get help with your resume.The brde step on the way to actually asking for job help is to ask for help preparing your job application package. No one knows better than your professor, a professional in their field, what would be most advantageous on a resume. Swing by those office hours again and ask for tips. Dont show up with a blank page and expect them to write it for you. Do put a lot of work, and thought into your materials and ask just f or enough help to polish up the details.