Happy Wednesday!

It's the 4th week of school and I've been having a hard time adjusting.

Apart from the increase in workload, I've also moved into my university residence. Compared to my summer in Medellín, Colombia, I now have less control over the amount of social interactions I have every day.

As an introvert, this drains my social battery quickly, leading to social overwhelm.

However, my time in Medellín has also taught me 3 principles that made socializing and networking effortless:

1. Come from a place of curiosity
2. Be very, very self-aware (and make use of it)
3. Accept that people are complex and will change over time

3 Principles for Effortless Networking

1. Come from a place of curiosity

Up until my summer in Medellín, I had icky experiences with networking.

I was usually in a room with 20+ other people—classmates, other prospective students, or just people hoping to "network".

There were usually 10+ people vying for the same "high-worth" individual's attention, and ignoring everyone else who was of "lesser worth".

Then in Medellín, I learned about "pursuit" and "attraction" interactions.

A "pursuit" interaction is often done with the expectation of a gain. Most interactions—especially 1-on-1 interactions like informational interviews and direct messages—fall under this category. You're engaging because you hope to gain:

• information about a role
• information about a company
• the possibility of a referral

through that particular interaction.

However, an "attraction" interaction is done without expectation of reciprocity. You have thoughtful, valuable interactions with your network because you're:

• curious about the topic and want to provide value (such as by sharing your knowledge)
• curious about other people (and their content), which you find interesting

The paradox of successful networking is that you can't have only one type of interaction.

Whether you're just starting out or already established, there are always new things to learn. This requires you to reach out to people and learn from them—a form of "gain" and thus, "pursuit".

However, if 99% of your interactions are pursuits, you could easily build a reputation for being "transactional"—someone who only interacts with people who are "useful", and overlooks those who are not.

Leaning into your curiosity makes it easy to engage in both types of interactions.

2. Be very, very self-aware (and make use of it)

To prevent social overwhelm and exhaustion, you need to be clear about:

1. What kind of people you want to be around
2. What kind of activities/interactions you do better in
3. What ratio of "Pursuit" VS "Attraction" works best for you

and use this knowledge to decide:

• how frequently you network
• what interactions and activities you engage with

For example, I've never done well at large networking events.

• Having a lot of people in the same room is too overwhelming and exhausting.
• If I do interact with others, it usually feels transactional, and the conversation dies afterward.

In Medellín, I had the chance to join small-group brunches and co-working sprints. Instead of having 10+ people vying for the same person's attention, we could slow down and genuinely get to know each other. It's also easier to keep in touch afterward because I know them on a more personal level and can send relevant resources their way.

These preferences and capacities will change over time, especially when you network more and step into new roles in life. And that's okay!

Experiment and double down on what works, then review periodically and adjust whenever needed.

3. Accept that people are complex and will change over time

Society likes to label people with their career roles.

The organic candle artisan. The community organizer. The job search strategist.

Labelling reduces us to one-dimensional characters when we're inherently multi-dimensional.

Multi-dimensionality means we'll (likely) have multiple interests.

Multi-dimensionality means we'll have multiple aspects of life to take care of.

Multi-dimensionality means we'll experience multiple life-altering experiences that change our perspectives.

Accepting that people are complex and will change over time embraces this multi-dimensionality.

It's how you can best support people through their inevitable career and life changes.

It's how you become THE person they remember—for seeing them for who they are.

P.S. I'm always curious to hear other people's perspectives about networking, so feel free to chat with me on LinkedIn!