Is it professional to "cold email" for networking purposes?

Question

I worked for company P over the summer as an internship. A big part of working at P was doing a project for a customer, company Q. The project was exclusively ran by the interns at P, with a small oversight from upper management. The final part of this was a demonstration with two contacts from company Q. The demonstration was a success, and after exchanging information, we parted ways.

Recently I noticed that company Q is coming to my university for a career fair. Company Q is also looking for people with my major. Company P will also be at the career fair, though I do not know how relevant this is. Company Q is a company of over 100,000 employees, however, the location that they're very likely sending employees from has 200 or less.

Is it professional to cold-email two of P's previous customers, people whom I've only met twice, to find out more about why they're attending the career fair, and who i can contact further?

if this is acceptable, how do I contact the customer in a professional, yet brief manner?

Answer 1

Company Q is a company of over 100,000 employees

they're very likely sending employees from location has 200 or less

It is an over-expectation to think that the 2 contacts from Q you met will be aware of the exact reasons for company coming to the career fair. Companies this large hire and fire people all the time, what do you really expect them to say, other than a generic answer like check with their representative at the booth?

Even if they are aware, why should you get some insider information to the disadvantage to other candidates?

This is assuming they are willing to take out the time to answer your mail, which seems improbable given your relation with them was brief and indirect (via P).

So, unless you left an extreme strong impact on their minds during your interaction, don't cold mail because the best case output is a generic response, but in worst case, they tag you mentally as a desperate spammer.

A better use of the reference is if you were to join Q on merit, and then try to network internally with them, or continue having more interactions with them to build a proper professional relationship.

A better use of your experience is to put that you worked indirectly for a project at Q on your resume, and hope that the people from Q at the fair notice that.

Answer 2

I say go for it! As an employer I have always been shocked by the lack of follow up or requests for recommendations by interns. It is quite likely that company Q knows their project was run by interns and even handed out cards with the understanding that the whole point of interning is to get experience that eventually lands a job.

I would simply mention that you were one of the presenters on the summer project and now noticed that the company is hosting a career fair. Ask if they would they have any information or insight as to what jobs are opening or whether your experience is relevant. Just keep it short and professional.

I have always been impressed with those smart enough to simply ask for coffee or a meeting-while I may not always be hiring, I'm happy to do an informational interview- and I've passed along plenty of resumes to colleagues. Don't underestimate the power of networking and the willingness of more experienced professionals to share knowledge and help the next wave of employees if they can.

All that being said, if your industry is known for frowning on this type of communication, you might want to reach out to your supervisor from the internship and ask for an introduction to the two people from company Q.

Answer 3

It is acceptable to email them, but also paranoid, in my opinion. Why bather about their reasons to visit the fair? Just go up their, introduce yourself and have a chat.

Answer 4

Yes, I think you can write them a short mail and ask who to contact. Fairs can get quite busy, so if you really want to talk to someone, a scheduled date is a good idea. It's also no easy for the staff to decide on the spot with whom they want to talk longer (time is truly money on a fair).

So if you schedule a date in advance, they can make sure that the correct contact person is at the booth, maybe even saw your CV in advance and already knows that you worked with the once which proofs that you are somehow qualified for the job and worth talking to.

(Asking why they are at a career fair however is a strange question).

You could ask them to pass your contact data to the organizer of the fair together with a short recommendation.