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Are you an introvert who is considering career networking (by choice or by force)?
Introverts are stereotypically defined by their aversion for unnecessary interactions. And some people (not necessarily introverts) think that this hinders in their career path.
Networking Tips For Introverts: Get The Ball Rolling!
Here are some tips to grow your professional network despite your so-called weakness:
Tip 1: Don’t listen to anything with the negative vibe.
Avoid anything that smells negative and feels discouraging to you. Stay away from those who try to feed you with thoughts that reinforce several myths related to introverts. This would stop you from learning necessary networking skills that are needed by a career-person.
Tip 2: Prepare everything that you can get your hands on.
If you are going in events like job fairs, seminars, and conferences related to your profession, do your homework. You can take a look at the kind of companies that are coming, people who are going to give presentations, topics that would be discussed, and so on (this gives you a peg to hang on during your conversations).
Tip 3: Practice beforehand.
You can ask your friend to come over and talk about the event in which you are going to participate. You can try finding some conversation starters. Personal experiences of learning, success, experiments, and so on can be great. Stories always draw attention and strike chord a with the others. You can connect with the people through the stories worth telling.
Tip 4: Employ your listening skills.
People with huge experience always have an audience (and they love to have more). If you are a good listener, you can use this skill to your advantage. Your aim should be to be genuinely interested in a profession and the experience of the seniors in the field. Then, there is nothing stopping you from being a part of a meaningful conversation that can be revived and continued with these people in other events as well (which is what networking is all about).
Work on your networking basics. Everything else would follow!
This is a guest post.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
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