Coffee Networking

As part of my job search I've been doing a lot of networking. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it's as simple as talking to people you know, who refer you to people they know, and so on. The idea is that you're building relationships with people with the hope that you will be able to help each other in some way, now or in the future.

More and more, the people I'm meeting are suggesting that we have our meetings at coffee shops. I like coffee, so the idea appeals to me a great deal, but it doesn't come without some challenges that will be discussed in this blog.

The first challenge is that often I've never met the other person and don't know what they look like. Sometimes the other person will offer a description of themselves and this is one time that you hope for some ridiculous abnormalities. Hearing "I'm average height, build and have medium-length, brown hair," is disastrous. Hearing "I'm nine feet tall, have a snake tattoo on my face and a moustache that wraps around my head," is ideal.

When no description is available, I have often looked people up on LinkedIn and have found their picture there. One must remember that it is common to find the greatest picture ever taken of a person on social networking sites, and that this is sometimes merely a guide as to who you are looking for at the coffee shop.

There are times when I simply have no idea what the other person looks like and have used two tactics: standing by the door and hoping that I can spot the uncertainty in someones eyes who is unsure what I look like and randomly approaching anyone of the same gender as my intended target. For obvious reasons the first option is preferable and with some practice, it is possible to look at their eyes without being really, really creepy.

The other problem I've encountered is having several coffee meetings in a day and experiencing caffeine overload. I suppose though that this allows me to provide a more helpful description of myself:

I'm average height and build, have medium-length brown hair, and will be shaking uncontrollably somewhere near the door.