Refine How You Make an Outreach Request 

Requests during the job or internship search are sent to a variety of individuals with different goals in mind.
As you make a request, consider your goal. If your goal is it ask directly for a job – STOP – this can lead to frustration, inauthentic conversations, or tarnished relationships
since the conversation is likely to feel transactional and self-serving. Do ask for advice and information from those doing the work that is interesting to you. Be curious and seek out information that will help you spend your search time wisely and give you insider knowledge on fields that are interesting to you.

As you think about your requests, consider the categories of people you want to reach out to. It could be individuals doing the job you want to do, hiring managers/decision makers, peers, colleagues, TA, faculty, previous supervisors, and people you admire! LinkedIn and the Duke Alumni Directory are awesome resources to find individuals to whom you would like to make a request! 

Here are specific resources from the 8 Steps for Search Success: Make a Request to pay attention to: 

  • This video with advice from Duke alumni about networking.
  • This guide focused on using 3 parts of writing a request. 
  • This article from The Muse that provides outreach examples. It’s written from the perspective of LinkedIn outreach but can be adapted for other communication channels too.
  • Review the outreach tips from recruiters.  

This post is part of Season for Connection 2021, a winter break initiative focused on how to conduct outreach and connect with professionals in a way that gets results. View the launch post here to see all articles compiled in an Outreach Guide.

By Erin Carlini (she/her)
Erin Carlini (she/her) Assistant Director, Engineering Master's Career Services & Professional Development