Networking with your professor
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
How to network with your professor
What does it mean to network with your professor?
Networking with a professor usually means that a college student is working towards building a professional relationship with their professor. A college student may build this type of relationship to earn a reference, snag an awesome letter of recommendation, publish research, or learn about career opportunities later.
Why is it important to build a relationship and network with your professor?
If a college student wants to have the best college experience, it is wise to network with their professors.
College professors can offer a lot to motivated students. If you are working with your professor on projects or visiting them during office hours, they will get to know you more. And when they know more about you, they can serve as a reference for you. Or maybe even recommend you to an employer later.
When I was a college student, a professor noticed my hard work and ambition and recommended me to an employer for an internship. This internship helped build my resume and landed me a job later.
You never know when your networking will pay off. Your professor may help connect you with future internships, jobs, or professional opportunities because of your professional relationship.
Also, when your professor gets to know your academic capabilities better, they can write that letter of recommendation that you need, or serve as a reference.
When I was applying to graduate school, I was required to get three letters of recommendation. And I wouldn’t have known who to ask if I hadn’t built those solid relationships with my professors. It can be a little awkward to ask a professor who doesn’t really know you. So, don’t wait until it’s too late to build those connections now.
Professors will have a hard time writing a good letter of recommendation or answering an employer’s questions about you if they don’t know much about you and your abilities. So, you really need them to get to know you first.
Not only can they connect you with opportunities, they can help you with your coursework. If you have a good relationship with your professor, you are going to feel more comfortable stopping by and asking questions about the course and material. You may get more assistance because you are building a relationship with your professor.
These are significant opportunities for a college student so don’t underestimate the impact of networking with your professor.
How to make connections with your professor
If a college student wants to make connections with their professor, they should plan to stop by during office hours and have academic conversations with their professors. The student can make an attempt to involve themselves in campus events sponsored by their professor or join a relevant student organization. These opportunities can help students make meaningful connections with their professors.
If you want to build a relationship with your professor, you should begin by stopping by their office and having some relevant conversations. For example, maybe you start networking by having discussions about their research or publications. Or even your academic and career goals.
You can ask them for advice or share with them your interests. This is just an opportunity for your professor to get to know you better. The more they know you, the better they can help you.
I would have students randomly send me emails about a recent news event and tell me their thoughts. And then they would ask me what I thought about it. This just gets communication flowing. There’s nothing wrong with doing this occasionally.
Should you stay in touch with your professor?
Yes, this professor recommends that students stay in touch with their college professors for a few reasons. First, they may need a reference or letter of recommendation later. And professors enjoys learning about their past students’ successes. But students shouldn’t stay in touch with every professor. I have a few recommendations on how to keep in touch with your professor so it isn’t too awkward.
How do you keep in touch with your professors?
As a former college professor, I know it can seem awkward to reach out to your old professors and stay in touch, but I will tell you exactly how to do this so it doesn’t seem too weird. Because maintaining a relationship with your professor can make a world of difference.
Professors are more likely to remember you if you keep in contact.
First, you want to figure out which professors to stay in touch with. So, think about which professors most align with your academic or professional goals. And think about the professors that you had a solid relationship with already. Start with these professors.
One way to accomplish this is to send them a thank you letter or card. This will let them know just how important their academic relationship was to you and help them remember your name.
As a professor, I would keep all the thank you cards I received on my office wall and I would re-read them frequently. I remember those students the most because it’s a constant reminder.
Then I would send an occasional email to your former professors every now and then. You are probably wondering what you will say in that email. I have a few suggestions below that will make this easier.
If you have a significant update in your life that your professor helped you achieve in any way, you could send them an email notifying them about this accomplishment.
Let’s say that you got a job in a field related to their class, you could send them an email letting them know how much their class helped you land this job or how it’s helped you in your career.
Or let them know that you got accepted into graduate school or landed an amazing job.
If you don’t have any related accomplishments yet, you could look up your professor’s publications or recent accomplishments and read them and send them your thoughts. You might learn that your professor recently published some research and you could tell them how much you loved reading about it and what your thoughts are about the findings.
Finally, you could send them your thoughts or questions about a relevant topic.
Let’s say that you saw a news or scholarly article that peaked your interest and was related to your professor’s academic or professional interests. Send it to them and tell them your thoughts on it too.
These are just a few ways to keep in touch with your professors in a professional way. By sending these emails, you are helping them remember your name and networking.
Is it weird to reach out to an old professor?
No, it is not weird to reach out to your old professors if you do it the right way. And you want to make sure your professor remembers who you were. If you reach out to your old professors, make sure you help them remember who you were because they may have forgotten your name. Then have a specific reason why you are reaching out to them. I’ll share more below.
When you want to reach out to your old professor, you need to give them as much information as possible so that they can put a face with a name. Professors have thousands of students over the years and it can be hard to remember everyone so feel free to refresh their memory a little.
Then you want to send them something relevant. Why are you reaching back out to them?
The reason why I think it would make the most sense to reach back out to an old professor is if you wanted to update them on your accomplishments. Professors LOVE hearing about students’ accomplishments so that could be where you start.
Otherwise you may need to reach back out to an old professor to ask them to be a reference or write a letter of recommendation.
This will be easier if you maintained a relationship to begin with but if you didn’t, it’s never too late to start now.
As a former professor, I know it will seem a little awkward to reach back out to an old professor, but I NEVER thought it was weird when a former student contacted me.
In fact, I loved it because it made me feel like I made a difference in their lives. And chances are your professor will love it too.
How do you interact with your professor?
While you may not be trying to network with your professor, you probably want to know how to interact with them properly. As a former professor, I would suggest that you always remain professional with your professor. You can talk about careers, the class, or your professor’s research interest, but I wouldn’t stray too much.
If you want to interact with your professor, you should email them occassionally with any questions or concerns you have about the course. And you can reach out to them during office hours. You should be able to stop by and discuss any of your concerns with your professor during their office hours and this will be the best way to interact with your professor.
Again, remain professional and try to understand their boundaries.
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