Suck Less at Networking

Networking is important for people in the tech industry to keep up with new trends, establish connections to find your next job, and to make friends. Networking events can be stressful, though, if you don’t have a plan.

During this workshop, we’ll help you craft a plan for your next networking event, including how to work the room by initiating conversations with new people, and how to talk about yourself and your journey in tech.

Hook:

Why does networking matter?

No matter how talented you are, you can get more done through other people. Networks expand what you’re capable of doing. The real power of a network doesn't even come from the people you know- you get included in their network also, which gives everyone exponentially more access to more people.

Objectives

By the end of this end of the lesson, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a “Hi! IQ” Introduction
• Demonstrate how to help somebody in a networking conversation
• Demonstrate an actionable close to a networking conversation

Hi! IQ Introductions

Demonstrate it for the students

A Hi! IQ intro includes:

1. Say "hi!"
2. Introduce yourself
   • 1-2 sentences
3. Ask the other person a question

Question Suggestions:

• What do you do?
• What was the best talk you saw today?
• How did you hear about this event?
• What is the most interesting part of your job?
• What would you recommend?
• What resources do you recommend to learn more about what you do?
• I’m new here, what are some restaurants you’d recommend?

Ask open-ended questions that let the person talk about themselves.

Demonstrate how to help somebody in a networking conversation

Networking needs to be a 2-way street. No one wants to give you access to their network if you don't have anything to offer. Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can help people:

• Make an introduction
• Offer to help
  • Beta test a production
  • Find someone for them
• Offer to teach someone something you know
• Make a suggestion
  • Meetup
  • Learning Tool
  • Company
• Feedback
  • Resume
  • Portfolio
  • Github

Practice with someone saying:

• I’m a recent graduate of GA and I’m having trouble getting job interviews
• I’m the founder of a small startup, and I’m struggling to hire devops people
• I’m a mid-level dev and I’m happy at my job, but I’m really curious about
• I just moved to here for a job and I really like Denver. But I had a big network back home and now I feel like I'm starting from scratch.

Demonstrate an actionable close to a networking conversation

How do you end a conversation so you move on to the next talk and let them move on to theirs? This has two steps:

1. Express gratitude for their time
2. Commit to an action

Examples:

"It was nice to meet you."

• "Can I add you on LinkedIn?"
• "I'm going to send you a message on Slack right now, let's catch up tomorrow"
• "Let's catch up at that talk next week!"