How are you going about expanding your professional network and connecting with fellow techies?
Share your go-to strategies newbies venturing into the industry and more sustainable approaches for coders further along in their careers. Shout out your favorite networking events, and don't forget to include any funny stories of unexpected connections.
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Top comments (7)
I genuinely hate the word networking
The damn word makes the activity it's supposed to encourage feels like at best a chore, at worse something dirty.
It sounds like people are forcing you "for your own good" to be in a conference full of hundred of strangers, which is not everyone's cup of tea.
At worse I imagine people telling me to add tons of strangers on LinkedIn and using them to reach my goals.
What I'm doing it much simpler and saner than "networking".
Pro-tip: usually people want to drink a virtual café with you, but finding the right time is difficult. Use a tool like Calendly to let them pick the time whenever they like
I did one unit of networking yesterday on a rare in-person day. Ostensibly to meet my leader's manager's new boss (the VP of our digital technical side of the company.)
Several sub-units of networking were also completed.
Today, I rest.
That's my point that kind of forced networking is exhausting.
Otoh I usually feel energized after a café discussion with cool people
You described exactly what I think of when I hear the word. Oh, man, I've got to figure this out. It drains me thinking about it. As a brand new newbie what do I have to offer someone in a coffee discussion?
Mostly you need to be genuinely interested in talking with him/her,
and the test for that is that you need to be able to explain why you want to talk.
I'm French, so I'm quite good at drinking coffee, I don't need that much convincing.
You would also tell me that you saw I love music and that you yourself are a children's musician.
Obviously, if the other is British or Japanese, invite for a virtual tea instead
You let me pick the date using calendly or a similar tool
and if I have time right now I would probably say yes.
You will be surprised how often it works.
The word networking really gets a bad rep. But it's just meeting people that's doing cool stuff and striking a convo with them like a normal human that's not trying to pitch anything or "get" anything from the person.
LinkedIn + Recruiter = infinity