Networking – a common buzzword that is frequently used in the legal fraternity. After all, there is a saying which goes, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’. Throughout my years in law school, I was constantly reminded about the importance of socializing with my peers and networking with prospective employers.
When the Covid-19 Pandemic came, the term ‘networking’ became even more important as more opportunities such as virtual internships and networking events started to pop out. Some of my peers (including me) have decided to be more active on LinkedIn with the hopes of building their own network or connecting with prospective employers for job opportunities.
Nonetheless, the simple things are always the hardest. Socializing and networking can be as simple as saying ‘hi’ or ‘how’s your day?’ – but the art of building and managing a huge network of friends is an art that not many can master.
Furthermore, I believe that there is a difference between networking and socializing with someone. You build your network with the hope of getting or providing something to people who are within your network. On the other hand, there are lesser stakes when you are socializing with someone.
On that note, I have brought my good friend and mentor – Jonathan Khoo to write on a few tips and tricks that we have learned throughout the years from how to socialize with your peers to building a good first impression with prospective employers. Without further ado, let us begin.
1. Social Setting vs Professional Setting
Social Setting (Jonathan)
In a social setting, the most important thing would be co-existence and being a friendly person. I generally go by the attitude of to gain a friend, you must first be a friend.
Generally, a good rule of thumb would be to be open and receptive to making friends around you. Sometimes, being friendly to your seatmates or helpful to your classmates would help endear yourself to them and make a lasting impression on your peers.
One thing that would help create memories and lasting friendships is gatherings and social events. My advice would be to make yourself available and willing to attend these events should you be invited to one. Whilst it may be a tiring time due to the socializing involved, it would serve as a good introduction to people and a chance to get to know your peers outside the classroom.
Besides that, you could also check in with your peers who you may not have seen frequently. They can be a close friend of yours or an acquaintance who you likely only met once. One way to check in would be in the form of dropping them a quick text or message or inviting them out to coffee to catch up with the hustle and bustle of life.
This helps maintain a friendship which may have slowly died out. Additionally, this helps people to remember you due to your effort in keeping the friendship alive.
Professional Setting (Liang)
In a professional setting, first impression matters. There is only a small time gap for you to make that impression so make it count!
A major part of how people perceive you is by the way you look. If you are attending an event in a professional setting (like an interview, a talk in a law firm, a talk where you will likely meet working professionals or a career fair,etc), it is important for you to dress the part. Brush your hair, iron your clothes and put on your best formal wear and you should be good to go.
The pictures above showcase two examples on how you should dress if you are attending a formal/professional event.
The rest of your impression will be built on your mannerism and the way you speak and articulate your thoughts. For instance, you would want to be on time for an interview or a talk and you should have a strong handshake with a prospective employer or working professional as they demonstrate signs of organization, punctuality and self-confidence.
After all:
2. Peers/Professionals
Peers (Jonathan)
Making connections with your peers essentially boils down to the skill of making friends and people skills. Whilst this may be easier said than done for some, this undoubtedly would be an important skill to cultivate as we move through life.
An important skill to connect with your peers would be to have either a good conversation topic or something interesting to say. Generally speaking, a tip I would have is that it would be easy to start a conversation based on a thing in common you have with your peer. For example, you could make a comment on the lecturer or subject material that you have encountered.
If you want to take your conversational skills to the next level, you can try to increase your range of interest (especially if it is something common). For instance, a recent sporting event or a current popular movie in the cinemas would be great common topics to start with.
An underrated tip that you can quickly pick up on would be group studying/checking of assignments. This would be similarly productive whilst also helping you build bonds with your peers as you navigate through the trials and tribulations in law school (if you’re worried about plagiarism, just get a friend who is not in your course or university to help proofread your work).
In fact, I have gotten my non-law friends to help proofread my law assignments. I managed to ask Mass Communication majors to check my Defamation assignment and Computer Science majors to check my Privacy Law assignment.
Professionals (Liang)
When you meet a working professional (legal and non-legal), they are likely have a few years of working experience and a good sense of general knowledge. After all, the nature of the job requires legal practitioners to understand the nature of their client’s business and be updated on the recent developments in the law.
Let me give you two examples. If you are going to attend a career fair, it is important to be informed of the potential employers that may be present at the fair. With that information, you spend some time looking up on the firm which will allow you to ask more unique questions that can form a strong first impression.
The same applies if you are going for a talk on a specific area of law (or any talk for that matter). If you are going to physically attend a talk, this means that you already have an interest in that area. You could read up on the area ahead of the talk so you will be able to respond if someone asks you a question or makes a point you find interesting.
Or you can improvise like what Jonathan does most of the time – but that is because he has a strong general knowledge and adapts to the situation quickly.
3. Physical/Virtual
Physical (Jonathan)
In these trying times, a physical meetup may be slightly complicated due to the Covid-19 situation so this next piece of advice should also be taken with the relevant precautions needed to comply with the relevant governmental Standard Operating Procedures.
As an extrovert, I personally love meeting up with people and getting to know more people in general. The situation is very much opposite for introverts as they would be quickly drained by having too much social interactions.
However, I would encourage physical meetings and face to face interactions when possible. The time spent would help endear you to your peers and create a connection between the parties. These memories would also serve as a nice break away from the hustle and bustle from law school.
Of course as law students, these meetups would not be completely devoid of discussions on law and related topics. These meetings could then serve as a good source of stress relief and camaraderie as we would have similar experiences.
Virtual (Liang)
With the Covid-19 Pandemic, there is undeniably a surge of virtual events on various social media platforms. Social influencers have frequent Instagram Live Sessions, the United Kingdom & Eire Malaysian Law Students’ Union host virtual events weekly on Facebook and the number of Virtual Internship opportunities are on the rise.
Of course, there is no way you can physically interact with your friend on an Instagram or Facebook Live Sessions. However, it is different when you are in a Virtual Internship. For instance, the ‘Internship Experience UK’ hosted by Bright Network offers participants to network with other interns and employers in Q&A and Networking Session.
Given that the lack of physical interaction, the only way to truly network virtually is through the conversations you are having with the other person. On that note, the rules above largely apply here – this should cover scenarios where you are socializing with another law student or networking with a prospective employer from a firm.
Conclusion
Liang
At the end of the day, these are merely tips which we have found effective in helping us to socialize and network with our peers, working professionals or prospective employers. There is really no strict rule you should follow as the above situations may overlap with each other.
You may be meeting a partner of a firm at a career fair where they will continue the meeting at a bar. You would react differently when you are meeting a friend for the first time as compared to a friend whom you have known for a long period of time. In this case, just go with the flow.
Most importantly, be yourself. Let your personality shine through your conversations, opinions and questions. It is always useful to learn a few tips and tricks but a certain sense of flexibility will help to bring your conversations and socializing skills to greater heights. So remember:
Jonathan
These are merely some tips that I felt were helpful in my own law school journey. They may differ from person to person as I would describe myself as an outgoing person who loves to get to know people and make new friends.
As the saying goes, ‘no man is an island’. This is increasingly important as you get to know your peers. I would also note that this is not a zero-sum game of competition, as it is usually a case of ‘who you know rather than what you know’.
As Liang mentioned, it is important to be yourself. Be genuine in wanting to know people and people would be drawn to you. Your peers want to be heard too and I am sure that everyone would love to make more friends.
Law school is also a journey of getting to know people and managing networks of our peers as this would be instrumental as you enter the next stage of your lives – adulthood. Sometimes, all you need is a:
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