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NETWORKING ETIQUETTE 101 featuring Amber Hurt of The Adulting Queen Amber Hurt of the Adulting Queen
where I met all of those people and what we discussed.”
Competitive Conference held in February, Amber Hurt of The Adulting Queen was generous enough to join us on Zoom to answer some frequently asked networking etiquette questions. Here’s what she had to say:
I initially reached out just saying, ‘Hey, we met at the conference. This is what I’m doing now; this is what I’m hoping to do. Let’s stay in touch.”
Q: How do you start conversations in networking situations? What do you say to get the conversation started? A: “This is definitely scary, especially with online networking, and we’re online way more now than we have been in the past. The key is to find something to connect with the person about. Whether you’ve checked out their LinkedIn, or you met them at a [past] conference, or you just know of them from somebody else, use that as a conversation starter.
W
e all know professional networking is important for career growth and progression. People you know can open up all kinds of doors to opportunity, from landing your first job to gaining promotions with more influence and responsibility. At every stage of your life, you need mentors, advocates, and coaches to help you grow and progress. But sometimes networking isn’t as easy as it sounds. Yes, we know that we’re supposed to go to conferences and maintain a LinkedIn profile and check in with our contacts every few months to keep that network strong. But what if that feels awkward? How do you start those initial networking conversations anyway? At the 2022 BEYA STEM Global
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Also, if you’re reaching [out] to them, you should have a reason. If you just saw them and thought it would be cool to talk to them on LinkedIn but you don’t have a purpose, then it can be a little more difficult to start the conversation. Going into the conversation discussing what interested you about them and how you found them is a great starting point.”
Q: How do you follow up when you have nothing to offer and don’t need anything but want to maintain the connection? A: “This is a great question. Again, it comes back to what your purpose was in deciding to reach out to them in the first place. For me, when I went to my first conference as an undergraduate student, what I did was take the business cards I got from everyone and wrote down where I met them because I would not have remembered
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Q: So I should get business cards? Aren’t they outdated? A: “Things have changed so much since the pandemic that they aren’t as important. I still do find them valuable, but it depends on what you’re doing and where you’re at in your career. When I was a student, I had them because we were going to tons of conferences, but now I don’t use my business cards nearly as much. I definitely don’t think they’re bad; I think it’s more of a personal preference, although they definitely make it easier to give your contact information out in passing, versus telling people to add you on LinkedIn. They just might not remember your name.”
Q: What if they don’t respond—or stop responding—to my messages? A: “Some of [the people I reached out to after conferences] I’ve probably not talked to ever again since then, and that’s okay. Don’t worry if the conversation dies out, especially if you’re communicating through email. There shouldn’t be any hard feelings about that. When you connect with people on LinkedIn, sometimes you’re able to restart that conversation either when you’re in a different place or you see that they’re in a different place and you’re interested in talking to them about it.” S
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