You may have heard people talk about coffee chats and how valuable they can be to your career journey. A coffee chat is basically a virtual meeting to get to know someone, what they do and ask questions. Getting the opportunity to speak with others about their career path, to hear their stories and be able to ask them questions can be priceless to your own journey. As someone who is building my tech network and community, I have learned how to have really good coffee chats with others and want to share some “coffee chat best practices” with you here.
Asking For A Coffee Chat
When you find someone that you want to have a coffee chat with, whether it be on Twitter, LinkedIn or someone you met at an in person meetup group, reaching out to them can feel a bit awkward if you are new to it. In my experience, folks in tech are super friendly and helpful and love meeting others.
- sending a DM : When you are sending someone a direct message for the first time, make it brief, be succinct and thank them for their time. Never send a message just saying “hi”. This is the number one way to get your message deleted and possibly to get blocked or unconnected to the person you sent it to. An example of a first DM might look something like this :
“Hello! My name is Janackeh (pronounced Jan-uh-kuh) and I wanted to see if I could hop on a coffee chat with you sometime soon. I saw that you are a developer at GitHub and I am interested in the company and an open position there and would love the chance to ask you about your experience working there. If this is something you have time for, do you have a calendar link I could sign up with? Thank you so much for your time!”
If someone sent me this DM, I would gladly respond with my calendar scheduling link and set up a coffee chat.
Making The Most of the Time You Are Allowed
Congratulations! You have now scheduled a time to meet and it’s the day of the coffee chat. Now what?
Show up a few minutes early : Timeliness is so important when someone is giving you their time. Allow some time to test out the link that was provided to make sure it works so you’re not caught off guard just in case.
Be prepared : Jot down some questions that you want to ask ahead of time to stay on topic once you are on the call. More than likely, the person you are meeting with will probably be talking more than you but make sure you ask what you originally set to find out more about.
Take Notes : Make sure to write down anything helpful or of note especially if they share resources, websites, books, podcasts that could be helpful on your career journey and job search.
Follow Up
While not always necessary, it’s always nice to send a quick “thank you” after the fact or even follow up weeks later after you read a recommended book or listen to a recommended podcast. This not only shows that you were listening, that you take initiative and were eager to learn more, it can also help to build a relationship with this person beyond the coffee chat. They will probably remember you and be more inclined to suggest more or talk with you further. Depending on the person, this could also lead to more of a mentorship opportunity - you really never know.
Building relationships may seem difficult in this remote work world but it doesn’t have to be! By confidently asking for coffee chats, being prepared and following up, you are well on your way to growing your career network and deepening relationships with others who can help you get one step closer to achieving your career goals in tech.