Meeting someone at a conference isn’t enough – you have to be prepared to ask the right questions to find the right people.
Networking as a jobhunter – in a conference, careers fair, or anywhere else – can be really challenging. You’re under pressure to be pleasant and interesting company, and to sell yourself without seeming like that’s your only motive to talk to someone. If you manage that, how do you even know if you’re talking to the right person?
Of course, asking the questions is only half of the job – you have to listen carefully to the answers, encourage a two-way conversation (you’re not interviewing anyone) and give your own perspective. But the questions are a good start. So, here’s 6 questions that will help you network as a jobhunter, without sacrificing a good conversation.
“What do you do?”
It’s timeless – a classic – the Citizen Kane of networking questions. This is fairly self-explanatory, but generally finding out what someone does, who they work for, and how that can apply to you will the basis of the rest of your conversation. You have to start somewhere, and this is your best bet.