Things People should avoid during Networking Events

Networking events are the events where various business groups gather to make further connections. Here, people meet each other for the first time and their behavior during the conversation decides whether this connection will last in the long run or not. Hence, it is important to take a note of things that one should avoid during networking events. Networking itself has its own set of skills and you could be ruining your chances at making connections without even knowing it.

As we all know that first impressions lasts forever and are hard to change or reverse, so these “what not to do” behaviors are the most important to know to avoid leaving a negative first impression of yourself at networking events

When done right, networking is an incredibly valuable investment of every professionals’ time and effort. So here we will discuss about 5 things which you should not do when you are at a networking event.

Do not hold negative conversations

People who feel “stuck” in academia are likely to be negative in their words as well as actions, however this attitude should not come through while having in a conversation in a networking event. Every time complaining about work, environment, belittling your own accomplishments or criticizing the event will create a negative impression on the other person.

 It is usual to become negative when you are frustrated with your current situation, but we should always try to find out a way by trying to visualize this networking event as a lifeline out of the usual academic life.

It is very important to create a positive environment always while having a conversation in a networking event instead of lamenting about the problems you are having. This will help in keeping the interest of the other person intact.

Do not stick your smartphone the whole time

In this era of technology, sticking to the smartphone is the new trend. But in a networking event, you should not be busy with phone all the time. People attend such events to increase their contacts and create connectivity as much as possible. So, you should also stop wasting your time on the phone and take this as an opportunity to go forward and talk with as many new people possible.

If you find yourself standing alone, instead of immediately taking out the phone from your pocket you should go and start a new fresh conversation to maximize your contacts because the more connections you make, the higher is the possibility that you will succeed in sustaining a professional relationship which will help you in getting a job offer.

Do not only socialize with the people you know

It will be very foolish of you if you will communicate only with the person you know because this will not result in any new addition in the contact list of yours. Moreover, this will defeat the purpose of attending such networking events.

You should always try and seek new opportunities to meet and talk with the people you don’t know. You should make it a point that you talk with atleast 3-4 new people in such events. Always being in a group of friends in a networking event will not give results nor will increase referrals for you in future.

Accepting business cards

In a networking event, when a stranger offers you their business card, you should always accept it because rejecting anyone’s card on their face would be rude and it may hurt them.

Also, we must accept the business card because we never know whose information will come to our aid at the time of need. One thing to note is that we should put ourselves into that person’s shoes and feel that how it feels when someone rejects to accept your business card.

Leaving immediately after the talk is foolish

After the lectures of the networking event is over, you shouldn’t immediately leave the place because this is the time when the real magic happens.  

You should not have such mentality that as you have received the email addresses and the contact information of the speakers, you got a gateway to their minds. You cannot create an impact in their minds only with the exchange of few emails.

You need to have a face to face communication or interaction so that they could be confident to recommend you for job opportunities as with personal interaction they will be able to judge you on the basis of your personality, behavior or your abilities which is not possible when you only communicate with someone “online”.

So in the breakup mingling session plan to stay for long as this will help you to connect to your dream job and many more referrals.

To sum up, it is necessary for you to prioritize the time you spend on the event and take a note of few things that one should avoid during networking events. It is important to meet and talk to people rather than just sitting and listening to the presentations of the speakers quietly. Maximize your time in the event and take the advantage of every opportunity you get.

Submitted By: Paromita Debnath | Shubham Verma
(PGDM Batch 2019-21)