How to network: for the fresh grad

At some point of your life, you will be invited to a business event where everyone is in suits, poised with tall glasses in one hand and chatting in small groups. Welcome to the business world, where such events are inevitable and the skills of networking are invaluable.

A great approach to networking is to rethink how you make friends when you were young. Now you are in a new classroom and you have to get to know all your classmates again. As a rule of thumb, be genuinely interested in the person you meet and chat. There would be some that you can get along with, some which you can't find any common topics, and some that hit off with you immediately - just like what happens in your class. 

Remember the necessities for networking, as explained from my previous post on checklist for networking.

Also, for those people where you can't find anything in common but find yourself stuck with them for some unforeseen circumstances, there is always a list of general things to talk about to fall back on.

Then there comes a situation where you are forced to network because you need to seek help in something. There is no other way but to find someone with the expertise to advise you or introduce to you some useful contacts. I think the 2 most common problems about networking that a young person would have is
1) he is afraid to ask for favors
2) he dislikes the notion of knowing a person just to benefit from it

In my own version of Networking, i think it is about doing favors. I think people understand you might not have anything to offer back now, but when the time comes, you would duly do so, or do so for others in return. It is actually a gentleman's agreement from this perspective.

In a nutshell, networking is similar to other activities in life. You will be hesitant and nervous in your first attempt, but after some practice you will get the hang of it. You will get the help of mentors and when you get better, you will share your knowledge and advise the young. Remember to always pay it forward. Happy Networking!

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How to get your boss to bring you for meetings

This post is dedicated to the newcomer/intern. I spent one year in a financial services firm and have honed this skill to a reasonable extent. A common pitfall for an intern is to stay in his own cubicle and too engrossed in doing his own work. For crying out loud, you can do your research at home, but when you are at work, you should fully utilize your time there. Go out and talk to your colleagues and learn from them. Sit in meetings to learn and see more. Some of them find it hard to get their bosses to bring them for meetings, so here's how:

1) establish good relations with your boss 

Make him enjoy talking to you, so he'll think about you when he's going for a meeting. Find out about what your boss likes, chat him up on these topics. 

2) show gratitude

At every opportunity your boss brought you, thank him and show that how much you appreciate his act. Everyone likes to feel appreciated, and you should not behave like bringing you for meetings is the natural thing to do.

3) be thick skinned

Possibly the ultimate cheat code of crashing meetings, is to enter , smile and say "just take me as a fly in the wall." This takes a lot of courage, really. This move was suggested by my boss himself, when he found it hard to bring me to a key meeting, but he said "doesn't mean you can't barge in yourself..."

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