Why do people network? Building relationships is key to reaching new heights in any endeavor. Simply put, people like to help each other out — which is great if you have the interpersonal skills and confidence to reach out to strangers. Most people are either ignorant of this fact or are so petrified by the thought of rejection that they do nothing at all; making it all the better opportunity for those who have networking skills. Fortune favors the bold.

The first part of this guide will be explaining how to network via Linkedin. The second section explains the importance of an informational chat and leveraging that relationship into a referral or career opportunity.

Before you begin networking, it’s important you develop a strong understanding of Linkedin. Build a profile, connect with existing friends, and follow groups and companies you find interesting. This isn’t Facebook or Instagram. Keep in mind everything you Like, Share, or Post can and most likely will be seen by potential employers. Keep it professional, but at the same time don’t be afraid to show some personality.

Lucky for you, Linkedin’s search feature can help you find anyone in the business world…once you know how to use it. First, on the top of the home screen click the “Search” bar and select “People” on the drop down menu. (Image Below)

You should be on a new page. Notice how many results there are? You’re going to need narrow it down a bit. (Image Below)

Select “All Filters”. The screen should now display a list of different filters. Scroll down the page to view them all. Most of them are self explanatory. (Image Below)

Before you begin networking, you must first determine what kind of person you’re hoping to connect with. For example, you could narrow it down by geography, industry, company, or even a specific job. Let’s say you love San Diego and are interested in working at a technology company in a sales role. Applying those filters on Linkedin will help narrow your targets down to a workable number. How would you do this?

Select either “San Diego” or “Greater San Diego Area” under the “Location” filter. As I’m sure you can assume, “Greater San Diego Area” includes locations within the Metro area, but not necessarily within the city limits. Essentially, San Diego + suburbs outside the city. Large metro areas across the world include the same option.

Under the “Locations” filter is the “Industry” filter. A quick Google search can give you a list of of Linkedin’s “Industry” filters, or you can just use Linkedin’s search feature and look for a company that you think is cool and check what they are listed as. For example, looking directly to the right of Google’s logo on their Linkedin page you can see “Internet”. Google is listed as being a part of the “Internet” industry. (Image Below)

So now you have narrowed it down to people working in the “Greater San Diego Area” or “San Diego” at a company in the “Internet” industry. In order to make it only show people working in a sales role, you would further filter your targets through the “Title” filter. What sort of Titles might people have in the “Internet” industry? Some internet sleuthing could give you a specific answer, or you could just put “sales”. A specific answer might be “Sales Development Representative” or “Account Executive”, but just searching “sales” will get you a solid list of people with the word “sales” somewhere in their title. There are more specific ways to use this filter, but for now let’s keep it simple. Now, click “Apply” in the upper right hand corner and take a look how much you’ve narrowed it down.

Your screen should look like this. 484 results aren’t bad. But we’re not done yet. (Image Below)

Now this next step is the key to networking; finding commonality. Your school, Greek life affiliation, unique country of origin, or any other shared interest can be used to help build a relationship. Fortunately, instead of manually going through each Linkedin profile looking for commonalities or groups they are in, you can use some filter settings to your advantage.

Here’s a quick example using your school as a commonality. Go back to the Filters page by selecting “All Filters” at the top of your screen. From there, scroll down to the bottom of the page until you see the “School” filter located below the “Industry” filter. It’s important to use this filter to find your school rather than the “School” filter at the top of the screen which searches for the keyword. As I understand it, this is for the rare occasion where people abbreviate their school differently or use a school nickname. For the most part, using the filter located at the bottom of the page is better. You can do this by searching for your school then selecting it from the drop down menu. (Image Below)

Now click “Apply”, and there you have it. You now have a list of people working in sales at an internet company in San Diego. Once you get the hang of this you can play around with the filters. For example, using the “School” filter and “Current Companies” filter to find all employees of a company from your school. There are additional filters available in the premium version of Linkedin if you wish to filter by the “Groups” your targets are in. This can be used to identify members of your Greek affiliation or other interests, like surfing or robotics.

Once you find someone you’re interested in connecting with, it’s important to make it official. Click on their name to open up their Linkedin profile. If they are a 2nd degree connection, or rather connected with someone you are connected with, there will be a large “Connect” button that you should click. If this isn’t there, click the “+” sign and select “Connect” on the drop down menu. Either way, you will be brought to a screen asking if you’d like to just send a request or “Add a Note”. For networking purposes, it’s very important to add a carefully crafted note in order to get your connection request accepted and begin building a relationship. Given the character limit, it’s also important to think about what you want to say in the initial message that fits the character limit. Here’s a quick example:

Hi (Target’s Name),

I was researching (Your School) alumni working at (Industry of Target’s Company) companies and came across your profile.

Time permitting, I’d really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you to better understand life at (Target’s Company) and the (Industry of Target’s Company) industry as a whole.

Hope you have an awesome rest of your week!

This message is short and accomplishes two things. First, you’ve explained how you found them while also demonstrating interest in a career in their line of work. Second, you’ve politely asked for an opportunity to speak with them in order to learn more. Note that you should not mention you are looking for a job referral or an internship. It’s difficult to build a relationship if the other person feels like they are being used. Though your intentions may seem obvious, it is not your place to immediately “make the ask” right out of the gate.

Because there is a character limit for messages you attach to Connection requests, some users instead choose to use Linkedin InMail. InMail is a premium feature that operates as a pseudo email service within Linkedin, essentially removing the character limit for messages to those you are not connected with. You might feel like this is worth it and provides more space to write a longer note with more detail, but in my experience I’ve found the longer the message I wrote, the less likely I would receive a response. Oddly enough, the 300 character limit on Connection messages is optimum for covering the basic information in a format that the individual won’t feel “burdened” to read. After all, if they are interested in your background they can just check out your awesome profile that you have already built!

It’s also important to note that I did not make a distinction of what type of chat I was looking for. If I’m in the same city as the person I might ask specifically for a coffee chat, but obviously this can be a big ask for those with busy schedules. A phone chat is more likely to happen and, although it may seem less personal, it is still an awesome way to gather information and build a relationship.

Once you’ve got a response, 75% of the work is over! I’m not going to write about how to converse on the phone, primarily because it’s key to be yourself. Although, it is important to emphasize that you must talk professionally and demonstrate a general understanding of the target individual’s background and career. Specifically, ask questions that you can’t find online. Things like “What are your thoughts on X trend?” or “What are some key characteristics that make a great X?”. At the end of your conversation is where you make the “ask”. It can be as direct as “Do you have any positions/internships open?” to “I’d love to chat with someone else in the role to get their insight as well, is there anyone you can connect me with?”. Generally, the person you’re speaking with will understand what your goal is and help you move forward.

And with that, you’re well on your way to your next opportunity.