Introductions (5 minutes)The call shouldn’t just be a list of questions that you fire off. You should begin by thanking the person for their time and their willingness to speak with you. Then, introduce yourself with a quick elevator pitch and explain what you’re looking for in an internship. After that, you can ask an open-ended question to get the conversation started such as: “So tell me about your background and how you ended up at Company XYZ and in field ABC.”

Questions (10-20 minutes)You should lead the conversation with questions (make sure to have 8-10 questions written down before the call starts). With each response the person gives, consider asking follow-up questions if something they mentioned was interesting/new to you.

Good areas to draw questions from

• Things you find interesting from their LinkedIn Profile (cool jobs they had/have, unique interests/majors in college, extracurriculars, unusual career paths, places they’ve lived).
• Projects they’ve worked on in their current or past jobs.
• Their company’s corporate culture, mentorship, work-life balance, etc. and their overall experience at the company.
• Things you have in common with them (if there are any). This could be tech-focused (an interest in LLMs) or random (a common interest in hiking)

List of Questions to Ask

Some of the best questions to ask during a networking call also apply to interviews, so feel free to pick and choose from our list here.

Some of the best ones for networking include:

• How would you define the culture at Company XYZ?
• Why have you decided to stay at Company XYZ for so long>?
• In what ways is working at Company XYZ different than you expected?
• What is the typical career path for a SWE at Company XYZ? What do most people do as their career advances?
• How was the transition from University ABC to working at Company XYZ?
• Can you tell me about the different branches within Company XYZ and give me an example project that an engineer within each branch might work on?
• Are you familiar with the internship program at Company XYZ? If so, what work is assigned to interns? Do they participate in the team’s workflow or do they have their own project?

Preparing Questions

You’ll want to have a list of questions written down in a document and pulled up on your screen (next to the call). Take notes on their answer below each question so that you can reference the information later.

Advice (5 minutes)When you’ve asked all of your questions or the 30-minute mark is approaching, ask for the person’s advice on getting a job at their company or in their industry. Often, this question will prompt them to offer to refer you for the internship or connect you with a recruiter, but if not they might still have some good advice. If you’d like to press the issue, you can ask these questions:

• “Do you happen to know recruiters/hiring managers at your company that you could connect me with?”
• “Do you have any other advice on how I can stand out amongst other applicants?”
• Do you have any tips for me as I go through the application process?

‍After the callThe next day, send them a thank you note for their time (and remind them of any follow-up items they said they would do, such as give you a referral or connect you with another person).

‍

^{Hi John!}

^{Thanks again for speaking with me yesterday, I really appreciate your time and your valuable insights! Please let me know if you need anything from my end to complete the referral form.}‍

‍

‍^{Also, I would love to reach out to the recruiter connection you mentioned, so if you can send over her email when you have a chance, that would be awesome.}

^‍

^‍‍^{Thanks again for all of your help and let’s keep in touch!}

^Sarah

‍

OR

‍

^{Hi Josephine,}

^‍

^{Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today! I really enjoyed our conversation and will definitely look into Amazon’s Cloud Computing courses.} 

^‍

^{Since applications for the internship are being released soon, would you be able to refer me for the role? Internship positions are getting more and more competitive, and I would like to give working at Amazon my best shot!} 

^‍

^{Thank you again for your time and I am looking forward to staying in touch!}

^‍

^Best, 

^Sarah

‍

You can also connect with them on LinkedIn with a message saying something like:

^{“I had a great time chatting with you today. Hope we can stay connected!”}