How to network at the entry-level

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>I'm not an entrepreneur, I'm not in a position where I offer services to the public, and I don't have any sort of business that I'm trying to promote. I'm just a recent grad looking to meet new people, explore new industries, and hopefully find some sort of inspiration to move forward in my career. I really want to start going to networking events. </p>

<p>The only problem is, I don't really know how I would introduce myself at a networking event. I don't have a fascinating start up to promote, I don't offer a service that people can take advantage of, and frankly, my job isn't even interesting to talk about. (I'm currently "stuck" in an entry-level job where I'm overqualified in every sense of the word....I'm a glorified receptionist with an occasional project thrown in). </p>

<p>So how the heck do I introduce myself to people and what do I talk about? Do I just focus on my professional interests rather than my title?</p>

2

<p>Everyone was entry level at some point, we all had to have our first ‘big kid’ job–so did the person you’re talking to. So don’t think that giving out your job title (whatever it may be) is going to be a huge negative. You’re likely young, fresh out of college, so people expect to get that.</p>

<p>I attend a monthly cocktail event that brings a lot of people from very different backgrounds, but we’re all there to listen to/view talks that have really interesting topics. So I tend to start conversation by saying 'Hey, I can’t believe what X said about Y, what did you think?" which usually transitions into an introduction like “Hi, my name is X, I work in X field” or “I work for Y company”</p>