Chapter 17

Ten Tips for Making a Networking Event Work for You

In This Chapter

arrow Preparing before you go

arrow Making connections at an event

arrow Following up afterward

Are you hunting for a job, moving up the career ladder, or running your own business? If so, networking events are a great way to get ahead. But . . . ugh. Can you think of a worse way to spend an evening?

In reality, face-to-face networking will never be a joy for you as an innie. (Surprisingly, even some extroverts hate it.) As a result, you’re likely to gravitate toward online networking. And that’s fine, because it’s a great approach. But meeting people in person is still one of the most powerful ways to make influential connections.

The good news is that there are ways to make networking get-togethers less painful and far more effective. In this chapter, I offer ten of my best tips.

Be Picky

After you get your nerve up and decide to start networking, you may be tempted to hit as many events as you can. But if you’re an introvert, that’s probably not the best approach. If you overstretch yourself, you may burn out quickly and give up entirely on your networking plan.

Instead, consider attending one or two networking ...

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