Hi guys,
I am not sure why I have this fear almost anxiety of reaching out to people and networking. I guess it stems from being afraid of sounding stupid or being made fun of for making a mistake. How do I get over this fear? or any advice on networking in general?
Also on a side note how do I start networking or is it necessary to network if I want to get a sophomore sa position for 2021 (diversity and non-ivy semi-target)?
thanks in advance and any help is appreciated
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It takes practice and just know everyone make mistake. The people who look put together now likely have done something tremendously embarrassing before too.
If you just want to improve your social skills I recommend this YouTube channel called Charisma on Demand. He had some really good videos.
Realize this is a skill and you can fuck up all you want now and no one will never know. If you postpone it, the cost is going to be a lot higher. But the better way to think about it is just try to enjoy the experience! Meeting people should be fun, and if it’s not, try someone more fun. Good luck!
Sounds like you've just finished freshman year, which means you're in a really good spot: you know very little and are eager to learn! At least that's how the people you network with will see you as.
Don't go into networking thinking you have to know a ton of things and impress people. Especially at your stage, it's more important to ask questions and learn (these people love hearing themselves talk anyway); you'll impress people with that more than you ever could by pretending to be informed. And learning is exciting because it will help you be even more informed about whether you think this is the path you want to pursue or not. Totally normal to be anxious, but I always found that it helps to be motivated by that prospect of learning something new and know that's a productive thing.
If you want to get good at it you just have to do it a lot. Get on LinkedIn and do some homework about who you want to talk to. Take some notes about their firm, group, etc. Write down the questions you want to ask. Reference these throughout the call but don't sound like a complete robot.
At the end of the day just trust in your preparation and don't be afraid to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.
as said above, you just have to dive in.
I used to have the same fear but after jumping in I realized it’s all in the head.
you can fuck up so many times and there’s still a million other people to “network” with.
be respectful, ask good questions and make friends. try bringing value to people - how do you know what would bring value? by asking good questions and learning more about the person. you will fuck up no doubt. brush it off and move on to the next.
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