Hellooo! How do you guys network as an introvert? I mean sometimes kasi I feel so shy approaching people, or even asking them to connect professionally so I’m really wondering how other people connect. Any tips, recommendation or resources are welcome!! Thanks a bunchh!
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Minsan, parang batman kasi alter ego hahaha, pero after nun drained nako kasi di naman ako extrovert. Pero madalas hinga malalim at sabi sa sarili ko na tao lang din sila,so ba’t ako matatakot? mahihiya? or something ganun basta, tapos i-approach ko na sila. Kapag di kaya ng ganung reminder, meron ako fidget toy para sa anxiety ko, dala ko yun kapag nalabas ako o kaya kapag nasa school hahaha
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Hello! Fellow introvert as well here! What made me conquer my introvert-ness when networking, is through exposure therapy.
Join local community meetups, ang dami here sa Philippines, especially student-led communities. Kasi it will help you build slowly the networking skill you will need to talk and connect with other people. At the same time those events would have attendees similar to your age, making it less intimidating to approach if you desired so.
In terms of how you can build that “networking skills”, you can start joining events that you know your friends will be joining so that in some way you can have confidence that you wont feel alone. Then try setting small goals whenever going on meetups, for example every meetup / networking event you join, you should at least meet one new person. Then on the next meetup, 2, then so on. But of course don’t pressure yourself too much if you dont feel sticking to your goals. There would be numerous meetups that you can still try out reaching your goals.
The good thing with networking / meetups, all the people there are in one way or another looking for connections as well. So most of them would be accommodating and approachable for new people connecting with them. So capitalize on that and start engaging.
Your usual conversation starters could be:
- Where do you study
- What is your profession
- At what school they came from
- Ask about opinion regarding certain tech topics like: which language you think you should be focusing at, or other opinionated questions about tech.
Then try looking for next question on some of their answers. Kung baga dugtong dugtong mo lang.
The gist is always try to conquer your introvert-ness little by little. Because later on youll get used to that feeling of just connecting with other people.
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