Journalism schools teach a lot of skills to aspiring journalists, including how to write, shoot video, and engage an audience on social media. However, there’s still a couple of things journalism schools don’t teach: how to network with other professionals and why that’s an important aspect of your career.

As the number of working journalists shrink, more and more job openings are filled with applicants who have an “in” at a certain company. In other words, getting a journalism job is becoming more of “who you know” than “what you know.” Having a robust network of professionals will help you get a leg up on the competition.

But the question becomes: how does one learn to network if journalism school doesn’t offer a class? Below isn’t the definitive list of how networking works, but still, you should scroll down and read the top five opportunities for networking.

WHILE IN COLLEGE

Every journalism school has a handful of faculty who teach the core courses. Those professors landed those jobs because, at some point, they were probably working journalists. That means they still have friends and contacts in the industry. As a college journalism student, it’s important to network with your professors because they can put you in touch with working professionals. In other words, if your professor(s) respect you, they will be comfortable introducing you to their friends and former bosses who work in journalism.

RECEPTIONS & MIXERS

Journalism organizations like the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association Black Journalists often host networking events called mixers or receptions. These events are designed to have working journalists meet up with and have conversations with other working professionals that they normally wouldn’t interact with. Organizers of these events encourage people to bring business cards and talk about jobs or internships at their specific employer. You never know who will show up to these events. It could be someone who just started working for the company a week ago or the top hiring manager who is hunting for new talent.

COFFEE DATES

This technique takes some bravery and gumption. However, I would argue that this technique has the biggest payoff. Find someone who works at a company you’d like to work for or someone who does the type of work you’d like to do and email him/her. Ask that person if you could set up a time to take him/her out for coffee or lunch. This technique works because of one powerful truism: journalists LOVE coffee and aren’t physically capable of turning down a free cup. Depending on how high-ranking that person is within a news organization, that person will likely say “sure.” After you two pick a time and place, use that one-on-one time to pick the person’s brain or to inquire about jobs.

JOURNALISM WORKSHOPS

Places like the Poynter Institute and Investigative Reporters & Editors often offer workshops that help working journalists learn new skills. Most times, those organizations select a handful of journalists from across the country and fly them into one city for training. If you are chosen for specialized training, this is another chance to network. Become friends with people in your training group. Go out to the bar with them. Tell them about some of your past work or the things you’re working on now. Your time with them will be short, but it could be the beginning of a very fruitful professional relationship.

ANNUAL CONVENTIONS

Almost every journalism organization, including the Online News Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, hold annual conventions. These four-day events are a mixture of workshops, guest speakers, parties, networking events, and a job fair. The convention is the ultimate playground for networking because hundreds of journalists converge on one conference center. Some of them are worker bees and can’t necessarily offer you a job, but many convention-goers are actual hiring managers who are looking for talent now or the near future. The secret to networking at a convention is to break out of your comfort level and talk to any and everyone looks interesting.

PRO TIP: Once you’ve started networking with a lot of people, use LinkedIn as your digital warehouse of contacts. LinkedIn is the industry standard for networking.