Networking with Coffee Chats

My experience and their benefits

What is a coffee chat? Why a coffee chat? Why not a tea chat?

A coffee chat is normally a one-on-one conversation with another professional in which you and they exchange information relating to professional life and experiences. While this is the standard foundation for a coffee chat it isn’t so rigid that the conversation can’t veer off to more personal life questions. After all, your goal for a coffee chat can be many things, such as building trust and connection with another professional, learning more about how they eventually fell in the position they’re currently in, learning what that role consists of according to someone actively and currently in it, etc. Ultimately, it can increase the chance of getting the role you want in the future and can even help you decide if that is a role you even want. There is a lot to gain from coffee chats! And yes, you can drink tea or something else if you want. That part is optional.

My coffee chat experience in Strategio

Here in this coffee chat, we were thrown into a breakout room with a random individual from Strategio for a one-on-one coffee chat. This is good practice to be forced to engage in small talk and speak with someone without being able to search them up beforehand. Normally one would prepare questions or topics to discuss based on previous knowledge, but there is none of that here. I had to rely on picking the individual's brain the old fashion way by asking open-ended questions. It’s important to have some sort of structure to follow by asking relevant questions, but one should not follow a script to the T and instead go with the flow. This is exactly what happened in my coffee chats.

I had two coffee chats and for my first one, I spoke to one of the newer enterprise strategists we have in Strategio. It was great to get to know them and learn about their background, how they’re in their current position, and what they’re currently learning. I asked specific questions to get insight into these things, but the conversation cascaded to things such as hobbies and interests outside of their field which is another great way to make things feel more relaxed and natural. I even learned that we have something in common in that meeting the CEO of Strategio, Conor Delanbanque, is the reason we both ended up being part of Strategio one way or another. They also got to ask helpful relevant questions for themselves like asking about the pros and cons of the simulator thus far, so this is an example of how the coffee chat doesn’t only benefit the individual that invites. Overall, it was an excellent and fulfilling experience.

Conclusion

Coffee chats are a great way to create connections, learn more about a specific role in an industry, practice small talk, gain insight into how someone landed their role, and potentially even secure a similar position in the future. And to reiterate, it’s okay if you don’t like coffee, you can choose the beverage of your liking!