Making the Right First Impression

When I was younger, I could never speak with much confidence to anyone. I always used to be the child who would sit in the corner, hardly participating in anything. 

Now that I am growing up, I thought to myself "I'm not helping myself this way. I have to do something about it". 

As you have read in my previous blogs, my university holds many workshops in the aim to teach us what we need to know to kick start our careers. 

Not long ago, I attended a networking event. Finding it extremely helpful, I thought I would share with you some tips I learnt to help you make the right first impression when meeting new contacts. 

• Create your personal "Elevator Pitch"

Your elevator pitch should be one sentence long, which includes: "who, what, when, where, and why" of your personal career to your new contact. You must think that this is the only time you will get to sell yourself, so make the most of it!

• Take pride in your appearance

Many employers begin to make a judgement within minutes of meeting someone new. Therefore, whether you will be working in a formal or casual environment, it is important to take care in your appearance. If you look scruffy, employers may ignore your skills, which in fact could be beneficial to them. They will think that someone who does not take care in themselves will be unlikely to take pride in their work. 

• Get professional business cards

Using a graphic design program or even a simple word processor, you can create a clean, simple card in minutes that will reap many long-term benefits. You want the card to be representative of you and as professional as possible. Don't forget: ALWAYS keep them handy! You never know when you will need them!

• Follow the 80/20 rule

Listening is a key part of networking. It should take up 80% of the time and talking 20% of the time. This enables you to ask open ended questions and keep the conversation flowing!

• Remember names of who you meet

Another key point of networking is remembering the names of who you meet. If you are lucky enough to meet your contact again, then they will be impressed if you remember them, immediately improving your relationship and opening a lot of doors for you. 

• Ask open - ended questions

With this tip, not only will you be able to follow the 80/20 rule, but will help you know the person better. This is beneficial as you might find out that you have a mutual contact between the two of you (then you will see how small the world really is!) or if you are really lucky, you may even be introduced to your future employer! 

Now that you know how to make the right first impression, get practicing and good luck!

Ellie Fanis
BPP University College