Core77

From Core77's Hack2School: The Ultimate Design Student Guide.

Right up there with going to class, doing your homework and changing your underwear at least every other day, networking is a skill that's absolutely critical to your budding career. Networking is the only way for people to associate a personality with your portfolio. It completes your brand experience, if you will. And in your case, it can make the difference between getting blown off and getting a job. Any wanna-be designers with visions of health insurance dancing in their heads would be crazy not to indulge in a little extracurricular mingling with others in the field. Besides--and this is good news for you--the drinks are usually free.

During the upcoming school year many of your peers will attempt to navigate the legendary social circles of their elders. The best of them will get a flurry of Linked In hits, a phone call or two, and possibly something we working folk like to call employment. The worst of them? Well, you've already seen them humping the podium after one too many Jagermeister and Red Bulls, tossing business cards at Yves Béhar while mumbling something inappropriate about his hair.

I'm not saying it's more important to go to the IDEO panel downtown than do your color study homework...but sometimes it's more important to go to the IDEO panel downtown.

If you already did that last week, don't worry--at least everyone will remember you. But if you'd prefer to network like a pro, follow these five simple rules. Soon you'll be the most popular employed designer in town.

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See more tips, tricks, and lifehacks for design students at core77.com/hack2school