As a self-proclaimed awkward person and a newbie in the professional world, networking is definitely not my cup of tea. Even though I do consider myself to be a people person, talking to people in order to develop connections and "build my professional brand" can feel difficult - after all, I find talking to people in general exhausting, even more so when I have to introduce myself.
Still, it is a valuable skill and fairly necessary in today's day and age; the saying "It's not what you know, but who you know" is a true one, even if it doesn't feel honest sometimes. Still, as much as I hate to say it, networking has enabled me to really develop meaningful conversations with great people, and I have gotten some of the best advice from sitting down for a one-on-one, even if I was terrified to start.
Although networking is not my favorite thing in the world, over the past two years I've acquired a little bit of knowledge from peers and mentors on the importance of networking and how to make it successful in spite of my awkward tendencies. I'm here to drop that knowledge on you friends, and I hope you'll share some of your tips & tricks in the comments too - us awkward people have to stick together!!!
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when navigating the scary sea that is networking:
