Okay so I'll put it out there that I'm not particularly great at "networking", I haven't done much of it, in or out of conferences. In fact, I'm not particularly great at people. I don't even contact some of my friends as much as some people say to contact professionals you want to network with (not to say they're bad friends or they consider me a bad friend, that's just the nature of most of my relationships). I can definitely hold a conversation semi-decently with most people though.
So currently I'm an intern at a PB/AM firm within their Hedge Fund Research team (as in FoF/HFS) but my role is more on the data side (not what I want, but what I have for now). As part of my job, I occasionally get to go to conferences and I have one coming up tomorrow and will likely have more in the future. The conference is mainly about the fund's pitching their strategies to institutionals but obviously there will be a lot of family offices, AM or FoF people there and as normal there are "networking luncheons" and "networking drinks". As a lowly intern, what can I do to best leverage these opportunities. I'm not sure if I'd want FoF as a long term career (given the trend of FoFs and HFs recently) but I may as well practice and see what opens up.
This conference tomorrow is mainly around FI, Credit and L/S Equity so at least I'll be able to somewhat understand the underlying markets more than in the previous volatility conference I've been to.
TL;DR: I'm introverted (not extremely but enough) with an internship at a FoF/HFS. I'm going to a hedge fund conference (tomorrow and in the future) and need help with how to network with the peeps there. Not sure what I can offer, not sure what they can offer... ALSO I'm looking for a summer internship next year so that could be an "end goal"
I would say that the best way to start a conversation at a networking event like that would be just to go up to people and introduce yourself. Ask them what they do, and if you think that you would like to go into the area that they work in, say that you are interested in that field and that you would like to learn more. Get their business card (or whatever form of contact info they have) and see if they would be willing to get lunch or coffee sometime to discuss more. If they say yes to coffee or lunch, then say that after hearing more about what they do, that you are looking for summer internships, and that you would like to work with them. Do this with as many people as you can, to increase your chances. Definitely bring the experience you already have, and if you can, relate it someway to what they do, and why that previous experience has prepared you for their line of work, if you can relate it somehow.
Also, try to find something outside of work that you can relate to them on, it will help them to remember you better, rather than just another young person looking for an internship.
Well... I don't know why I couldn't think of that myself. Wow.
Thank you for summarising it so simply!
Follow up: how do you bring up outside-of-work things? Or get them to bring it up?
I may be overthinking this but any help is appreciated
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