We always hear “its not what you know, but who you know,” but today we were given a deeper perspective from our speaker Rob Cullen that goes a but further into “its who knows you.” I hadn’t really thought about it this way before, but honestly makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t really matter how many people you think you have in your network if they don’t remember you. Especially at large-scale events, some professionals may talk to hundreds of students in a day, so how do you stand out and ensure that they are in your network, and you in theirs?
Our speaker shared some tips on introducing and communicating with others, but none really seemed that culturally different from what we would see in the US. Obviously, a firm handshake and eye contact are necessary, as well as listening skills and finding things in common. These aren’t even specific to business, but to meeting new people in a lot of other settings. Although there was one thing that stood out as a bit different than what I was used to, which was the pacing of follow ups. I’ve gone to events before and talked to professionals, only for the next follow up to be a similar event they said they were going to. There is a clear separation between meeting as business partners and as friends. This differs in Ireland because these follow ups may be over coffee or a pint of Guinness (a common staple in Irish culture), and may be a bit more social. Because of the nature of networks, you need to get to know someone to an extent before engaging in close business, and based on our speaker’s advice, this seems to be the case in Ireland especially. This isn’t to say that you couldn’t meet a business partner over coffee in the US, but dragging these deals out longer has definitely not been my experience.
the picture above is from a cute little market where a group of us had lunch after our speaker!
I think my biggest takeaways from our lecture this morning was the importance of analyzing the body language of people before approaching at an event, and navigating a difficult conversation. At a networking event, you can’t always go up to anyone and start talking, in case they’re in the middle of a tight conversation which our speaker referred to as “closed”. Instead, you should look for a group that is “open” where there is a physical gap for a person to join and stand, but also to leave a gap for the next person to join as well. He had also mentioned that it is okay to excuse yourself from a conversation that may not be going very far. If the person is disinterested (or not interesting) you shouldn’t be afraid to go get a cup of coffee or excuse yourself if you spot someone else to chat with. This was always something I struggled with, because I don’t want to seem rude for leaving a conversation, so going forward, I want to try some of our speaker’s advice and ultimately be more comfortable at networking events.
