There are many ways to look for a college internship or full time job, but one of the most productive is learning how to network for job leads. Networking is one of the keys to your success and can provide great value to you for finding job leads, and also for making good impressions at your career fair.

A lot of viable job leads come from networking, but the majority of college students aren't aware of this fact. Job leads and actual jobs result from networking for a number of reasons. One important reason is that networking creates an automatic referral, because you end up with the name of the individual who is referring you and the name of the individual to talk to. Even if this is a casual networking situation, or you don't know the individual who is referring you very well, it will still put you in line ahead of other people who are answering an ad and have no contact name or referral. Subliminally, in the mind of the individual you are being referred to, there is already a familiar connection between you because of the referral.

The more people in your networking group, the more job leads you will receive. Even if you are not currently looking for a job, continue networking because the job market as well as the economy can fluctuate and overnight you may need to use your networking list to look for a job. It is important for you to put the time and energy into your networking efforts on a regular basis. You should be prepared to do the work involved in networking so that when you need to count on the network you have built it will be as current and complete as possible.

The biggest key to networking is to let the people you're talking to know about what it is you are looking for, and why you want it. This should also include a relevant discussion of your strengths that you would have to offer the potential company. What you want is "Top Of Mind Awareness" - in other words, if the person you're talking to doesn't immediately have a job in mind, if one comes up in the future, they will immediately think "oh, I met this person (you) not too long ago, they would be perfect for this job, I'll have to give them a call!" See how that can work in your favor?

Some excellent avenues for networking include friends who have already graduated and are working, friends of your parents and parents of friends, the college or university career center, professors and student clubs/organizations. One other networking opportunity can also be alumni association programs to assist and mentor students.

Industry-specific and company-specific career fairs, online industry-specific job sites and companies are also good sources of job information, however they do not have a true networking component such as the organizations and methods discussed previously. These avenues can be used to supplement your networking so that you are working with every opportunity available in trying to find a job. Recruiters from specific companies are always an excellent source for jobs.

To be successful in networking and job hunting it is essential that you stay organized, keep accurate records and follow up. If your networking includes the components we have discussed you can be certain that your job search will yield positive results.