Guest blog by Clare Tomkins, Graduate Recruitment Associate at EY:

So you’ve just spent an evening at a networking event or the day at a careers fair. Maybe you’ve handed out 30 CVs or perhaps you’ve spent a long time chatting to someone who works for your dream company? You may have made a great impression, but what comes next? This should only be the start of your pathway to getting that perfect job. What are you going to do to improve your chances further and really stand out?

There are three main actions that you can do after meeting an employer on campus, whether it’s at a seminar, panel, careers fair or networking event.

1. Organise yourself

Make sure you keep track of the contacts you made, who you spoke to and also the information the employer gave you. Record contact details, any questions you didn’t get to ask and the opportunities you are interested in. You can use this to monitor your applications and the different stages of the process once you have applied.

2. Don’t hesitate

Get in touch early. Employers will speak to hundreds of students every week. If you are going to follow up on your meeting, make sure that you don’t wait too long . I recommend using social media the day after the event and emails or phone calls a few days afterwards. There are a number of different ways that you can get in touch with employers:

LinkedIn – most recruiters will have a profile you can get in touch through. Write a personal message stating where you met them and any questions you might have.

Email – if you managed to get the contact’s email address, send them a thank you email. Be polite and concise and don’t expect a response straight away. Often employers have multiple deadlines so contacting a student might not be at the top of their list.

Telephone – call us old school but sometimes a phone call can be the best form of communication. You are able to establish a proper relationship and build on what you spoke about at the event.

Twitter – tweet after the event with a key piece of information you took away with you. You can always tweet before the event too, this acts as a touching point and they might recognise you when you attend.

3. Reflect on your progress

You may think that you really made an impact at the event you attended but what can you do to make yourself stand out even more? Sit down and try to outline your key improvement opportunities. Here are a few things you can think about:

• Did you prepare well enough?
• Were there opportunities at the company that you were interested in?
• Were you confident when speaking to the employees?
• Did you ask the same questions as everyone else?
• What went well?
• What did you start off with? Did you have a great personal introduction prepared?
• What would you do differently?

Interacting with an employer on campus is a great opportunity, make the most of the events held by LSE Careers and remember to always do your research on a company before and after coming into contact with them.

If you follow the three actions above, you can only build and develop your commercial awareness and social skills. Enjoy the events you attend on campus and good luck with any applications you are sending off.