Connect to your Berkeley Haas Alumni Network:

Direct Resources on Connecting with Berkeley Haas Alumni and Best Practices for building your Berkeley Haas Network

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For more information, contact:

Meg Roundy

(she, her, hers)�Assoc. Director, Student-Alumni Relations 

Haas School of Business 

meg@haas.Berkeley.edu

(C) 510.388.1040

Agenda- Discussions

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• What is Networking?
• Why should you connect with alumni?
• How do you connect with alumni and find their contact information?
• Who should you reach out to, and what do you say?
• How can you build an alumni outreach list?
• How can you best prepare for an alumni career conversation?
• How do you follow up and build a beneficial long term networking relationship?
• Other Resources

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What is Networking?

Network/Networking

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•Networking is about creating a community of tight and loose connections and growing social capital. It is about building personal and business relationships that create support and opportunities.

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TL:DR: Networking is about building relationships.

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Berkeley Haas: Getting Started with LinkedIn

Best Practices

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• Join & become a member of the Berkeley Haas Alumni [official] Group in LinkedIn
• Activate searches within LinkedIn
• Within the LinkedIn Berkeley Haas Alumni Tool- accessed through the Berkeley Haas School page in LinkedIn. (*an exceptional search tool within LinkedIn!)
• (Or: Access through the LinkedIn search bar, search: "University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business" > "Alumni.")

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• Call to Action: In your LinkedIn profile, list your education as: University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business

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Utilizing the LinkedIn Alumni Tool, to search for alumni:

1. On the LinkedIn Home Page, search: University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, to get to the Haas School Homepage.
2. Click on “Alumni” to access the LinkedIn Alumni Tool.

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3) Fields are already populated to show the largest number of alumni. To find smaller cities, employers, functions, etc., type in your search into the Search Bar.

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Over 44,000 (number may vary) Haas Alumni

are pulled into this tool

based on information

in the “Education” section

of their LinkedIn profile.

Use the Search bar to search information that isn’t

populated below.

“Next”, to view additional populated categories.

“Show More”, to expand populated

Field results.

Berkeley Haas: Getting Started with @cal

Best Practices

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• Your @Cal Alumni Directory: https://cal.berkeley.edu - your connection to all Berkeley Haas students and to all Haas & UC Berkeley alumni (*note, data for Haas alumni is significantly more robust than data for other UC Berkeley alumni in this tool)

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• Call to Action: In your @cal profile, list your preferred email address as visible to “Community” (drop down option under, Privacy)

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Contact Alumni:

• Find email addresses: Source direct student and alumni email addresses in the @cal Alumni Directory.
• If a Haas alumni email address is not visible in @cal, reach out to Meg Roundy, meg@haas.berkeley.edu to source their preferred email address.

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Utilizing the @cal Alumni Directory: cal.Berkeley.edu, to search for alumni and source direct email addresses:

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1. Log into @cal with your CalNet ID and passphrase.
2. Search
3. Preferred alumni email addresses listed in @cal profiles are the most active and up-to-date email addresses that Berkeley Haas has available. They are email addresses that have been identified by alumni as preferred.

3) Conduct an Advanced Search

*For a search based on geography, enter in the city and state of your interest

*To see only Berkeley Haas students and Alumni, under “School or College”, choose: Haas School of Business

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• Connect with Chapters, Regions & Affinity Groups:

https://haas.berkeley.edu/alumni/alumni-network/chapters/

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• Connect with Berkeley Haas Industry & Affinity Groups in LinkedIn:

https://haas.berkeley.edu/alumni/alumni-network/affinitygroups/

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• View Events that are managed by the Berkeley Haas Alumni Network through the Worldwide Events page:

https://haas.berkeley.edu/alumni/events/

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• Join groups, post events and connect with Berkeley Haas Alumni in the Berkeley Haas Alumni Slack Workspace:

https://haas.berkeley.edu/alumni/alumni-network/slack-workspace/

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Additional Resources available to connect with your Berkeley Haas Alumni Community:

Career Conversation

Career Conversations are unique in that the outcome isn’t a job; it’s a relationship. You’re trying to expand your network and build relationships with people who can provide additional information (on a topic, company, industry), open a door, make an introduction, and (in the future) possibly hire you.

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In a career conversation, you ask the questions of someone who is working in a certain industry, field, or company that you’re interested in. While the goal is for you to learn from their professional experience, they’ll also be getting to know your character, skills, and ambitions.

Email Tips- Networking and requesting a Career Conversation:

• Subject line: Berkeley-Haas student introduction and advice

• Start with a brief introduction of yourself and reference a mutual contact if one exists

• Be straightforward: tell him or her that you are asking for information and advice in an effort to advance your career

• Be clear that you are not looking for a job—you are looking for no more than 15-30 minutes of time for an informational session to benefit from the recipient's expertise

• Be sure to thank them for their time

• This is a first impression, use proper English and complete sentences. Be professional always.

• Do not be wishy-washy! Tone is friendly, honest, and low demand (AUTHENTIC!)

• Re-read your Email - ask yourself....how would you respond to the email you are sending?

• If the recipient doesn’t get back with you right away...assume they are very busy or out of town....

• You can wait a week and contact them again

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Outreach email 1

No prior contact with Haas Alum

Subject: Questions re: Initech from Haas student

Bob,

I’m a Haas MBA student and found your contact information in the LinkedIn Haas/Alumni group. I’m currently exploring various career paths and see that you’re working for Initech as a product manager. I noted that you were open to offering career advice, and I am wondering if you would have some time in the next week or so to chat with me about your experience working in Silicon Valley as a product manager.

I would really like to get a better understanding of what a product manager does on a day-to-day basis as well as to get some advice from an insider’s perspective.

Ideally, if you have the time, I’d like to meet with you in person, I work in Silicon Valley, and could buy you lunch, or a post-work drink, if that works for you.

Feel free to try to call me on my cell phone at 510.555.5555.

Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Peter Gibbons

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Outreach email 2

No prior contact with a Haas Alum

Subject: Haas MBA re: Bolton & Associates

Michael,

I’m a Haas MBA from the Evening and Weekend program and I am writing to introduce myself. I found your contact information in the Haas/Alumni group of LinkedIn and see that you’re working for one of my targeted companies, Bolton & Associates. As you may know, your firm typically recruits from B-schools on the East Coast and is not scheduled to visit Berkeley this year.

A favor to ask of you- I’m wondering if you’d have about 15 minutes to chat with me by phone. I’m eager to find out more about your experience working for Bolton.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Peter Gibbons

510.555.5555

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Outreach email 3

An actual MBA student email resulting in a class project

Networking into a targeted company

Subject: Haas Class Project re: TiVo

Dear Milton,

I represent a small team of MBA students in a technology management class at Haas. Bob Slydell recommended that I contact you after I mentioned that I found your name in the Haas/Alumni LinkedIn group. Our team is working on a class project in which we’ve been assigned to apply course concepts to a technology company for a final presentation and report. In our case, the company is TiVo.

Bob has already graciously agreed to speak with us regarding issues such as R&D, usability testing, experimentation, structure of project teams, and other matters relating to technology management. If you’re available sometime within the next week, we would very much value any additional perspective you could provide. We’re tentatively scheduled to visit your offices sometime next week. Depending on your availability, we could try to set up a meeting with you to coincide with this trip.

We look forward to benefiting from your insights.

Sincerely,

Peter Gibbons

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How to prepare for a Career Conversation:

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1. Research the Industry
1. Job Descriptions
2. Responsibilities and skills required
3. Latest Advancements, challenges & trends
2. Reseach the person that you are meeting with
3. Update your own LinkedIn and Social Media
4. Prepare questions and conversations (Tip: if the answer of your question can be found on the company or alumni website, don’t ask it)

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Additional Resources on Career Conversations:

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• For more information on preparing for Career Conversations, please view the October 2016 Alumni Networking Panel.

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• View all MBA CMG Resources on: Networking to Build Relationships

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• Sample Networking Emails (slides 14, 15, 16)

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• Sample Networking Questions.

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• Linkedin blog (quoted in Slide 12): Your Guide to Informational Interviews: How to request, prepare, and follow up after informational interviews

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• Subscribe to the Berkeley Haas Alumni Jobs Newsletter.

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Brainstorm: How do you build a long term connection (and do you have to)?