How to Network for a Business Internship

Many internships are filled with help from someone inside the company: a referral moves your application to a recruiter who actually reads it. Networking is how you meet those people, and for a student it mostly means short, polite conversations about someone's job.

Who to contact

• Alumni of your school who work at companies you like. LinkedIn's alumni tool lets you filter your school's graduates by employer, city and job title.
• People one or two years into the job you want. They remember recruiting clearly and are usually the most willing to help.
• Recruiters and speakers you meet at career fairs and company information sessions. Ask for their card or connect the same day.
• Professors, club advisors and past managers, who often know people in the industry and are rarely asked.

What to write

Keep the first message short, specific and easy to say yes to. Ask for fifteen minutes of their time, not for a job.

1. Say who you are in one line: your school, your year and your major.
2. Say why them: the shared school, their role, or something they wrote or worked on.
3. Ask one clear thing: a 15-minute call about how they got into their role.
4. Make it easy: offer two or three times, or say you will work around their schedule.

Example: "Hi Jordan, I'm a sophomore finance major at [school] and saw you went from our program to the analyst team at [company]. I'm starting to prepare for internship recruiting and would really value 15 minutes to hear how you approached it. Would any time next week work for a quick call?"

The informational interview

• Prepare three or four questions: what a typical week looks like, what they wish they had known as a student, and what the team values in interns.
• Keep to the time you asked for. Offer to end at 15 minutes, even if the conversation is going well.
• Do not ask for a referral in the first conversation. If it goes well, they will often offer; if not, ask later, once you have applied.
• Ask at the end: "Is there anyone else you think I should talk to?" One conversation often leads to two more.

Follow up

Send a thank-you message the same day that mentions one thing you learned. When you apply to their company, let them know, and include the job ID so a referral is easy. A short update a few months later — you took their advice, or you got an offer — keeps the connection alive.

Questions students ask

Find internships to apply to →

Next: find business internships for your major or compare certifications for business majors.