When I graduated college it was just five years ago this spring, I was pretty clueless.
Five years later, I regret to say, I’m still mostly clueless, but I have a learned a few good lifehacks! Since so many of the people on this list are college students, I wanted to share three quick things with you.
The Coffee Trick
If you email a reporter/editor/busy person and ask them to come meet you at a local coffee shop for a drink, they’ll almost always say no. No one wants to leave the office, even if it’s just for 20 minutes.
But I’ve found that if you say that you’ll bring coffee (or food) to them, and just want to talk for 15-20 minutes, they almost always say YES. Seriously. Just offer to go to them, and bring them something, AND keep it short. That’s the secret.
Only Ask For Some Things
Or more specifically: If you’re asking for help, you can ask for one thing.
You can ask for a recommendation. Or some advice. Or an introduction.
But you can’t ask for everything. The more you ask for, the more of a burden it seems, and the easier it is for the person to say no.
It’s Not About Networking, It’s About Having Your People
Having business cards means absolutely nothing. Life is all about meaningful relationships. It’s about people who’ll pick up the phone for you if you ask. People who’ll go out of their way to fight for you.
A two-sentence email from one of those people goes miles further than having the card of someone you met at an event a year ago. The people who build strong relationships almost always end up ahead.
And two more links for you soon-to-be grads:
These are the 11 things you need to know to exist in the real world. (Now you know!)
If you do end up moving in with your parents after college (I did), here’s how to survive it.
I’ll be back with tools next week! Until then!