Originally posted at thegovgurus.com:
After you register on LinkedIn.com, type the name of your target organization into the site’s search window. You will thereby generate a list of friends, friends-of-friends, and even friends-of-friends-of-friends who work at your target organization.
Ask the contacts on your LinkedIn list for additional networking contacts, informational interviews, and leads for openings at your target organization. Also ask them to help you prepare for interviews by providing you with background information about your target organization’s culture and about your interviewers.
I say this several times every day to my students.