Career Connections: From Conversations to Opportunities

Written by Public Policy Student & Career Center Intern, Lila Aspin

In Career Connections, Career Center interns dive into their own networking experiences to reveal their best tips and tricks for building and maintaining professional relationships. Beyond their stories, they have crafted helpful templates you can use to start growing your own network. Read our third and final installment of this series featuring Lila Aspin.

The Importance of Networking

In the Spring 2025 semester, I participated in the SparkSC “Activist Incubator” where I engaged in a 6-week activism focused curriculum, culminating in hosting my own activism event to engage and educate students. In that program, I was connected to a Trojan alum and Policy Director at a LA-based non-profit (Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership) who spoke as a guest lecturer about his work in advocacy. I was incredibly interested in the work he did and his career path, and reached out to him after his presentation to connect and meet one-on-one for an informational interview. As a fellow Trojan, we immediately hit it off and the conversation was easy and very informative. From there, I maintained contact with him and stayed in touch about my advocacy event and his work. We built a great professional relationship and he was able to provide amazing guidance and knowledge that really helped my event be successful. At the end of the semester, when I hosted my event, he attended! At the event, we spoke a bit about my future plans and he mentioned that he was looking for a Policy Intern for the Fall semester. I expressed my interest verbally and then followed that up with written interest and ultimately got the position! I worked at LARRP as a Policy Intern during Fall 2025, and it was such an amazing experience! 

Cultivating Relationships Over Offers

Oftentimes when we think about networking and mentorship we immediately think about getting a job or internship offer. In this case, I built a relationship with my mentor first, developing trust and confidence in my abilities, before (months later) ending up securing an internship. Because I was focused on learning rather than just getting an internship, we were able to build a genuine relationship and he could see how passionate and interested I was in the work he was doing. I encourage you to approach mentorship and networking from a place of learning rather than simply finding a job- you never know what will come of it!

How To Get Started

As an introvert, I was really nervous to begin networking. But something that helped me is realizing that people LOVE to talk about themselves. Whenever you approach someone to chat because you are interested in their work or career path, it is a compliment to them. As long as you approach the conversation wanting to learn and being thankful for their time, it is incredibly flattering and doesn’t feel transactional at all. Also, put yourself out there and always ask whoever you’re networking with if they know anyone else you should talk to! You can build your network while already networking!

Sample Outreach Message:

Subject: Introduction & Informational Interview

Dear [First Name Last Name],

I hope you are doing well! [Introduce how you know them, ie: I’m a student in XYZ class], and I really enjoyed your lecture in class this week! I was especially excited to hear about [specific comment].

I’m currently interested in [academic field/major/minor], and I would love to learn more about your career path and any advice you might have for someone early in their academic journey! If you’re available, I’d greatly appreciate 15-30 minutes to learn more about the amazing work you do!

Thank you for your time!

Best,
[Your Name]

Good luck with networking, Trojans!