u/Saira_NAttyd

Not a hacks post, just the one thing that actually moved the needle: coffee chats.
I applied to about 200 PM roles coming from a finance background and got two callbacks in 6 months. Then I started asking people already in the roles I wanted for 15 minutes of their time, and within two months I had three referrals and the offer I ended up taking. Most people say yes more than you’d expect, they were also the person cold messages someone once lol.
If you want to try it: LinkedIn (grindy but standard), ADPList for mentors, LunchMe if you’d rather pay for the coffee upfront so it feels less like a favor being called in, and any Slack community in your target industry. Genuinely more efficient than another round of applications.

Maybe this is a mindset problem on my end. I recently switched into a new industry and one thing I’ve been struggling with is networking. Whenever I reach out to someone professionally, I always feel like I’m asking them to give me their help. Even when people are nice, I sometimes leave the conversation feeling guilty. I’ve noticed that conversations feel very different when both people enter with some kind of mutual exchange instead of one person asking for free advice.
So for people who are good at networking: How do you make it feel more like a mutually beneficial interaction instead of a favor?
I’m curious whether anyone else struggles with this.