I am spending a lot of times looking for internship these days and I have to admit its quite a daunting task. USG career and Internship center (CSIC) has been playing an important role in helping me apply for various internships. In addition to that I had been attending networking events and also interviewing.  The networking events could be very intimidating. How to could a person create an impression on an industry professional in such a short time?

Some of the  that I found out are as follows.

1. Dress sharp and dress for the occasion.
2. Arrive on time, it helps you to integrate more into the event and join the festivities. Sometimes, they give out snacks before the event start.
3. When meeting a professional give a good handshake. Make sure your handshake is firm and your body language shows confidence.
4. You gotta talk confidently. Introduce yourself with self assurance, and give them some kind of background. Try to find common interests in the conversation. Ask questions that might interest both parties.
5. Be calm and make eye contact. This will enable you to have more comfortable conversation with the other person.
6.   Come prepared for the event. If there are panelist talking and you have to network with them later, try to find out what are their backgrounds. You don’t want to network with a professional who’s back ground you might not be interested in.
7. Try to be honest of what you want. If you are looking for internship in a certain field or you have already applied, let  the perspective employer know about it. Also let them know about your skill sets during your conversation.
8. Don’t forget to leave without connecting with them. Most of the networking events I have attended were with the industry professionals. They are always willing to give out their business cards. Don’t forget to ask them politely if you can add them to your LinkedIn account as well.
9. If you’ve had a detailed conversation with somebody, always reach out to them and thank them later, with an email.

Above mentioned are some of the things that I have learned while networking. Please feel free to share in the comment section if you have any tips or any thing interesting that you might have encountered while you are networking.