What you should NOT do at a networking meeting. Need Help? http://biosciencejobkit.com

1. 4 Networking Meeting Don’ts
By Connie Hampton,
Hampton & Associates
Scientific & Executive Search Services
Bioscience Job Kit

2. •Networking can
frighten people into
doing things that they
would not normally
do. Is this you?

3. Don’t:• Stand with your back to the wall, your
arms crossed and your eyes on your
shoes.
• This is the stance of the wallflower and is
not at all inviting to your potential
networking partners.

4. Do:
• Step away from the wall,
plaster a smile on your face
(or think of something
amusing so that you can
smile and not frighten the
horses).

5. Do:
• Look around for someone
standing alone (perhaps with
their back to the wall, arms
crossed and looking at their
shoes) and go greet them and
ask what they think of the
meeting so far.

6. Don’t:
• Hide your name tag by putting on
your purse or your shoe or down by
your waist
• You are making it that much harder for the
person you are meeting to remember your
name
• If you put your name tag on your left lapel
but shake with your right hand, the name tag
will be angled away from the person you are
meeting.

7. Do:•Put your name tag
near your face on
your right shoulder
• Humans learn in many different ways and
one is by reading as well as hearing.

8. Don’t:
•Forget your
business
cards.

9. Do:
• Leave the back of your card
blank or at least not shiny –
it is a great place for the
person to whom you are
giving it to take a note or two
about the conversation.

10. Do:• Write a note on the back of theirs
– What did you talk about?
– What can you send them (a resource or link
to something interesting)?
– When should you contact them?
– Where did you meet them (obvious at the
time, but not so much when you find the card
on your desk)?

11. Don’t
•Forget to follow up
with the people
from whom you
collected cards

12. Do:
•Follow-up within
24-48 hours

13. Remember:• The whole point of the networking
exercise and business cards is to follow up
with the people afterwards.
• And, since networking is about giving and
getting, be sure to give something that
the other person will find useful or funny
or interesting or professional or (whatever
you want to be known for).

14. For More Information
• Connie Hampton
• Bioscience Job Kit, a service of Hampton &
Associates Scientific and Executive Search
Services
• Web: biosciencejobkit.com
• Phone: (510) 601-1343
• Email: connie@biosciencejobkit.com