Question by Marie-Louise, Data Analytics Student
asked on 2019-06-21

How can networking feel less transactional and in some cases - less discriminatory? I've started attending more meetups. Some of them feel competitive, and people immediately want to know 'what can you do for me?' and then drop you a.s.a.p. when they've decided you're not what they want. Other times, people will just look and decide - 'this isn't a tech person'. I literally see them doing the up and down glance, and scowl (I look nice, I swear!). I feel uncomfortable and usually skip the networking sessions and network online because of this, but it would be nice to improve these skills. How would you approach these spaces? Would you approach them at all?