Reaching out to someone you’ve never met can feel awkward — but in NZ’s small creative and tech industries, it’s one of the most effective things you can do. Most people remember being where you are, and a genuine, well-timed message gets a response more often than you’d expect.
The key is knowing what to ask for, how to ask for it, and how to follow through.
Prepare before you reach out:
A few things to check or sort before you start to send anything, make sure:
- Your LinkedIn profile is up to date and presentable — people will probably look you up.
- You know what you goal is, or what want from the outreach — do you want a coffee chat, an internship, information about a role, or just to learn about their work?
- You’ve done some research — channel your networking talents, make sure that you know about their company, their role, and ideally, something they’ve recently worked on, or secondly – posted about. You don’t want to get caught looking like you don’t care about them or their company and.
- Your ask is specific and small — a 15-minute virtual coffee is a much easier to say yes to, than an open-ended “could we meet sometime?/Can you help me get a job?” etc.
Most people want to help if you put in and make the effort to reach out, especially students – or if they can see themselves in the opportunity – but you need to put the work in, be prepared and make the most of any opportunities you’re given!
The golden rules
Make it about them, not you:
“I’d love to learn about your work in [area]” lands better than “I’m looking for an internship.”. Lead with curiosity, not need – try to make sure that you’re genuinely interested in the companies, people and opportunies that you’re asking for.
Be specific:
Find a way to genuinely reference something real the person has done – take time to do your research. Look up a project they worked on that you’re interested in, an initiative their company has done, a talk they gave, a post they wrote etc. If you send generic messages, you will either get no reply or get a generic response.
Be brief:
Keep it to about 4–6 sentences maximum for a first message – get to the point quickly. If they have to scroll or read between the lines, then it’s too long or not clear enough. Ask someone objective to read it over before you send it, and make sure you check spelling and punctuation.
Don’t attach your CV!
If you send it with the first email/contact, then this sets the tone of the message immediately. Send your first email, wait and see their response, and don’t send it until they ask, or until the conversation naturally moves there. It can be a good idea to have one printed, if you’re going in person to meet someone, but don’t make it weird.
Only ask for something small and realistic first:
Treat it like relationship-building – you have to start with building a connection first before making an ask or a request of their time.
Starting genuinely with an interested message/email, showing your curiousity and passion, asking for casual, no-strings-attached call or coffee chat may naturally lead to a company visit, or a volunteering opportunity, which may lead to an internship etc etc. But trying to skip the basics and going right to asking for an internship or job rarely works, and can often make them feel like you’re just using them as a connection to get further in your career.
Putting yourself in their shoes can make this clear – how would you feel if a random student you never met just asked you for a job or internship?
Coffee chats
This is the lowest-stakes and most effective form of cold outreach. You should be interested to learn about them, their role or their company, and are asking for a short conversation. Do not use this to try asking for a job.
Ideas of who to reach out to:
- A good, ‘easier’ starting point can be alumni from your course or university – you can use LinkedIn’s alumni search tool
- Another ‘easy win’ can be people that you’ve talked to at events or have ‘networked’ with – just send a quick message to connect, and say you’re interested in keeping in touch, or learning more about them (if you are).
- Speakers from events you’ve attended – try to prepare something genuine to say about their talk, what did you learn from them, what did you enjoy, what surprised you about their talk etc.
- People who post content you genuinely find interesting and engage with – it’s best to make sure you’ve engaged with them a fair amount before reaching out, especially if they have a large following. It’s easy for people to get lost in large audiences.
- Anyone whose career path you’d like to understand better – especially those who may have things in common with you.
- People in roles or companies that you’re interested in (do research first!) – be prepared, and if it’s a larger company or important person, be aware that you might not get a reply because they’re busy. This can be good practice for ‘rejection’ though!
Treat every attempt as a learning experience – whether it goes good or bad, you most likely learnt something!
An Example Message:
Hi [Name],
I came across your profile / saw you speak at [event] / noticed your work at [company] and wanted to reach out. I’m currently finishing my [degree/qualification] and trying to get a real sense of what [their role/industry/company] looks like in practice.
If you have 15–20 minutes for a virtual coffee sometime in the next few weeks, I’d love to hear about your experience — particularly [one specific thing relevant to them].
No worries at all if you’re too busy right now.
Kind regards/Thanks a lot,
[Your name]
What to do before and during the coffee chat:
Do your research, review any notes, and prepare 3–4 genuine questions beforehand. Good ones are:
- How did you get into this role or area? (include a more specific sub-question – eg: ‘from your last role?’ or ‘into this specific department/project?’ etc
- What does a typical week actually look like for you?
- What skills do you wish you’d built earlier, or that might be beneficial for people interested in this role/dept/company?
- What’s changing in this space right now that you find interesting?
- Is there anything you’d suggest for someone at my stage to learn/do/start?
Always follow up with a genuine thank you message the same day. People are busy, and if someone makes time for you, that matters and it’s good to show your thanks.
Don’t ask “do you have any internships/jobs going?”
If they offer to pass on your details or mention an opening, that’s a different story – but don’t expect this. Your goal should be trying to learn, and your intention should be genuine interest.
Company visits
A slightly bigger ask than a coffee chat, so you need a clearer reason for wanting to visit specifically.
Good reasons to ask
- You’re doing a uni project or assignment with an industry component
- You’re weighing up career directions and want to understand different environments
- You’ve already had a coffee chat and want to see the work in context
- Your programme has an industry exposure component
Who to contact
For larger companies, look for people in the ‘Talent or People’ teams, or ‘graduate programme coordinators’. For NZ startups, reaching a senior team member or even a CTO directly is often completely fine — the hierarchy is flatter here than in larger markets.
However, again – do your research and be genuine.
Example Message:
Hi [Name],
I’m a [year] student studying [qualification] at [institution] and I’ve been really interested in what [company] is doing in [specific area]. I’m trying to get a better sense of what working in [type of role] looks like before I graduate.
Would it be possible to visit your team for an hour sometime — even just to see the environment and ask a few questions? I’m happy to work around what suits you.
[Your name]
Internship cold outreach
This is the biggest ask of the three, so be sure that your profile and portfolio are in good shape before you begin planning to send this one – they will almost certainly look you up first!
When to reach out
- Late summer (January–February) or mid-year (June–July) for most NZ companies
- Before the formal grad season kicks off — early contact can lead to informal opportunities that never get advertised
- After you’ve already had a coffee chat with someone at the company — warm contact is always better than cold
Who to contact
People within the Talent or People teams for larger companies. For startups, the hiring manager or a senior person in the team you’re interested in is often the right call.
Avoid generic info@ addresses and ‘to whom it may concern’ – take the time to find a real person on LinkedIn to reach out to.
Example Message:
Hi [Name],
I’m a [year] student studying [qualification] at [institution], due to graduate in [year]. I’ve been following [company]’s work in [specific area] and it genuinely aligns with the kind of environment I’m looking for.
I’m reaching out to ask whether [company] takes on interns or has any graduate opportunities coming up — I know these don’t always get advertised publicly. I’d love to be considered, or kept in mind if something does come up.
My portfolio / GitHub is at [link] if it’s helpful to have a look. Happy to chat further if that would be useful.
[Your name]
When they ask for more
Only send your CV when asked, and have a link in it to your LinkedIn, website, Github or your portfolio and make sure they’re ready.
If they say there’s nothing right now, politely thank them. You can ask if you can check back in a few months, and if they say yes – then put a reminder in your calendar to actually do it.
Following up
If you don’t hear back after 1–2 weeks, one follow-up is completely fine:
Hi [Name], just following up on my message from [date] in case it got buried. No worries if the timing isn’t right — I just wanted to check in.
After that, leave it. Chasing more than twice crosses into uncomfortable territory in NZ’s small market, and you will likely run into them again at some point.
A note on non-replies
Most non-replies aren’t personal – people are busy, messages get missed, or the timing doesn’t work. The students who get opportunities through cold outreach are usually the ones who reached out to at least 10–15 people over a period of time, not the ones who sent two perfect messages and waited to hear back.
Think of it as a bit of a numbers game, but make sure you approach it with a genuine, human touch.
Quick checklist before you send
- LinkedIn profile is complete and presentable
- Message is under 6 sentences
- References something specific about them or their company
- Asking for something small, specifi and time-bounded
- No CV attached to the first message
- Proofread – especially their name, company name and details
- If you get no reply after 1–2 weeks, follow up – but only once
- Send a thank you after any conversation or meeting