How to nail an evening with industry

Official networking events are a great time to meet up with old buddies you haven’t seen in a while and get some free food, but more importantly, it’s a crucial time to talk to the recruiters and get your name and face out there early.

Pre-Dinner networking and mingling over appetizers. Photo c/o SWE

Pre-dinner mingling

Don’t be nervous. You may never see the recruiters again, and even if you shoot yourself in the foot talking to them, you’ll likely never see them again anyway. If you are nervous, approach the recruiters of companies that don’t fall under your top 3 choices. This way you can get practice and warm up your pitch and professional conversational skills.

Personally I wouldn’t hand them a resume during this time, save it for later during the post-dinner private career fair. Please don’t be overly bombastic or sycophantic – other students nearby will cringe and the recruiters will also be cringing inside and likely want to end the conversation ASAP. Try to limit talk about jobs and positions and definitely don’t talk about business right off the bat.

The recruiters are usually having a good time talking to other recruiters. It’s an evening event and they probably are already tired from a day’s work or travel to UCLA. You should start off with small talk after introducing yourself, perhaps starting off with something along the lines of “Is this your first time at UCLA?” Essentially treat them as people you meet for the first time in classes or around campus, but with a slightly elevated filter.

Dinner

Dinner time! Look at all those happy faces! Photo c/o SWE

Immediately when you walk in you realize that this isn’t any normal dinner experience because of the presence of all the fancy silverware and dishes. If you’re like me and did not ever learn fine dining etiquette, do not fret! Even most of the recruiters have no idea about that.

However, you’ll surely leave a good impression if you know some fine dining etiquette, such as the placement of the forks and spoons and no elbows on the table when eating. If anything, it brings levity to the dinner conversation, poking fun at how silly the rules are, assuming nobody at your table actually takes them seriously.

By that same token, this does not mean you should act like a slob–you will not get taken seriously. Don’t stuff the entire chicken in your mouth in one go, nobody will be impressed or find it funny. Eat slowly and talk a little between every few bites. Definitely place the dinner cloth on your lap. After all, nobody is really here for just the food.

If you’re lucky the recruiters at your table will initiate conversation and facilitate the communication. However, if that is not the case, this is an opportunity for you to make your mark by initiating an engaging conversation. Come prepared with good conversation topics about current events (not politics or religion please!) and pop culture as well as science.

Have a positive attitude and make sure that positive energy is exhibited through your speech and body language.

Do not resort to self-deprecation and in general do not appear as a pessimistic or very critical person. At one point, ask the recruiters about their work and how they like working for the company. They love talking about that! And on’t be that guy/girl who tries to bring out a resume or brag too much; it would just kill the mood for everyone.

Careers Fair

Time to whip out those resumes. Photo c/o SWE

At this point you’ve finished dinner and everyone is headed to various rooms for the career fair. This is just like your standard career fair, except you can actually breathe and move since there are fewer people. Now’s the moment everyone has been waiting for…whip out that resume/CV and brag to your heart’s content. Hold nothing back.

Stop by the companies you interacted with during the networking and dinner portions and talk about business and your qualifications

As mentioned earlier already, if feeling nervous (which you shouldn’t be at this point… you’ve been here for hours already) practice on a less desirable company. But before you do, wipe your mouth or rinse! I saw some people with nasty, ugly food particles stuck in teeth or on the rim of their lips. That’s just bad etiquette…

Just because a company is looking for a certain major, does not mean that the recruiter there is recruiting for that position, so ask people who have already visited those companies’ tables what the recruiter was looking for. You could end up saving yourself a lot of time and frustration.

Research open positions in a company that you feel are a good match and talk about those with the recruiter. If you feel the conversation went well, ask for a business card or contact info (LinkedIn, email, but never Facebook)

Remember to follow up

Ok, so it’s been a long night and you deserve to go home and take a long night’s rest without having to interact with any more people. The next day it is crucial to email or contact the recruiters you interacted with and thank them. You can look online for tips on what content to include in these short emails/letters.

The wonderful people responsible for EWI! Photo c/o SWE