3 ways to approach an alumnus on LinkedIn

After many years of hard work, you are finally a young EDHEC graduate. Congratulations! You might say it’s a passport to the working world. But once the euphoria of your academic success fades away, the stress of looking for a job can take its place. So what do you do when you’ve got less than 3 years’ experience on your CV? Don’t hesitate to rely on your professional network! To do this, here are 3 ways to approach an alumnus on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn: must-have social media for professionals

LinkedIn has become an essential social media platform for professionals when it comes to recruitment. Many companies and recruiters look to LinkedIn to root out their talented staff of the future. Understanding what’s at stake and knowing how to approach a recruiter are trump cards if you want to find opportunities on the labour market. Below we outline some key strategic tips on developing your visibility and professional relationships and perhaps even finding a job. 

The preparatory phases to master

Carefully tailor your LinkedIn profile

It is of the utmost importance to update your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters. In a few short seconds, they must understand who you are, what you have done so far and what your future objectives are. Your profile is like a window display, your digital CV, and must be as engaging as possible. Recent information is always appreciated: profile photo, a short summary of your skills and aspirations, previous job titles and responsibilities, dates of your work experience, etc. Every detail counts!

Be active 

It’s not enough to simply make a good impression on LinkedIn, you really have to be proactive. Log onto your account regularly to keep an eye on topics relating to your business sector, interact with posts and articles with reactions and comments, share content that stands out with high value-added, and make sure you join LinkedIn groups. On this social media platform you will find the official EDHEC Alumni page, as well as other private groups and professional clubs.

Taken together, these small initiatives will allow you to stand out and improve your credibility in the eyes of your audience.

Target the right person

The first thing to do is to identify the person you want to reach out to. Some people regularly receive requests, so you must quickly catch their attention. This initial contact can take place in phase 2 by identifying shared areas of interest or referring to earlier discussions. However, you can also contact somebody in relation to a job offer that has been posted or reach out to them spontaneously because you are interested in their firm and would like to apply for a position. This phase is more time-consuming, which is why you shouldn’t hesitate to solicit members of the EDHEC ALUMNI network!

How to contact an alumnus from EDHEC

To find your ideal interlocutor, the EDHEC ALUMNI platform offers several tools. 

• An easily accessible directory of members and companies listing 50,000 graduate members and around 70,000 companies, more than enough for some broad prospection to get you started.
• Local groups in France and abroad to find alumni near you.
• You can also use LinkedIn, which allows you to filter your searches by school.

To do this, go to the filters and select “School”, “Location” and “Sector” or “Current company”.

This will allow you to identify interlocutors from EDHEC who perfectly suit your needs.

Now that you’ve targeted the right people via the EDHEC Alumni platform or LinkedIn, let’s look at the different ways to approach them with concrete examples.

3 ways to approach an alumnus on LinkedIn 

To get the job you’re after, to get more information about a company or project, or to offer your services … there are 1001 reasons why it might be a good idea to reach out to an alumnus.

Whether you get in touch with them directly through their professional profile after doing your own searches or via the EDHEC LinkedIn group, it is essential to prepare in advance and, above all, to personalise your message. As you’re probably aware, contact requests are made all the time – and most miss the target. By using one of these 3 approaches, your requests will be perceived more favourably and therefore be less likely to be rejected!

Approach No. 1: You’re interested in the same area of business

“Dear Ms/Mr (Surname), I’m a young EDHEC graduate looking for work and am currently trying to develop my network so I can interact with other professionals in the (your business sector). I would be delighted to learn more by getting in touch with you.”

Approach No. 2: You’re both members of the same group

“Dear (First name), as a fellow member of the EDHEC LinkedIn group, I was interested to read your comments on (mention discussions or topics addressed). I would like to add you to my contacts so I can keep abreast of your activities.” 

Approach No. 3: You have contacts in common

“Dear (First name), (first name and surname of common contact) recently spoke to me about you in relation to (reason for your message), and so I thought I would ask if I can add you to my contacts so we can discuss it further.”

In the end, it’s not so straightforward and you can quickly become frustrated by the situation if nothing happens ... Which is why we created ALUMNI CONNECT to facilitate all the steps involved in reaching out to someone!

ALUMNI CONNECT: a springboard towards the job market

The principle behind the platform and how to sign up

With ALUMNI CONNECT you can benefit from personalised support to meet your needs. Based on the core principle of mutual assistance, graduates can guide you and share all of their expertise and experience as you begin your career. 

To sign up, simply activate your account (check your inbox or read this article) and then visit this web page, where you will be able to access the Alumni Connect module. 

At this stage in your journey, two options may be of particular interest to you: Meet&Share and Mentoring.

Meet&Share

This short-term exchange scheme is for any graduate in need of help with a specific issue. You can access it at any time if you have questions or would like to obtain information and advice. 

Mentoring

Mentoring, meanwhile, involves longer-term support with a Mentor/Mentee relationship and tailored programmes. There are 4 currently available, one of which might be of particular interest to you: the Mutual job support scheme. For someone actively looking for work, it’s a way to really develop a job-seeking strategy. You will be put in touch with a mentor who will guide and advise you in your job search based on your aspirations and skillsets.

 The importance of providing information about yourself

With the aim of obtaining the right professional match, we advise you to take the time to complete your profile and preferences. You then choose the topics and skills you wish to discuss with a brief description of your expectations. The algorithm will then suggest matching EDHEC profiles. Once the connection has been accepted, you will be able to access a private messaging space and an online appointments platform, with the option of holding videoconferences exclusively with this person. 

As you have probably understood, it is often useful to belong to a professional network! Having a presence on LinkedIn is of course strongly recommended. And you are lucky enough to be an integral part of a 50,000-strong network of people from EDHEC all around the world. A robust network that promotes exchanges and mutual support. An opportunity for you to kickstart your career!

Remember: if you haven’t yet activated your account, that’s the first step before you can access the platform and your personal space.

You’ll find all the explanations you need in this article.

Try Alumni Connect