Like many WFH workers, I was looking for ways to network/meet people/have conversations with other humans that weren't my co-workers.
I experimented with a few platforms with the intention to meet interesting people. Disclaimer: I wasn't selling anything to anyone. And I didn't ask anyone for a job/internship when I spoke with them. I just wanted to build my network.
1. LunchClub -
As of Dec 11, I've had video conversations with 60-65 people in the past six months. This platform has really taken off during the pandemic and it's easy to see why. I've met people from around the globe and about 75% of the people I met, they were pretty fun to talk to and I enjoyed the conversations. I've had follow up chats with some of them as we got along pretty well.
The platform does all the grunt work of setting up the meeting with other professionals (based on your availability and preferences) and all you have to do is show up for 30-45 mins. I also got an opportunity to conduct a workshop for 3 days on Business Finance for 30 entrepreneurs in Toronto thanks to someone I met on the platform. I had no intention of teaching, it just randomly came up and I said yes. 'Cause, why not!
My rating - 9 out of 10
2. LinkedIn -
I reached out to about 18 people over the last 6 months. The short messages were sent through a connection request mentioning that I was interested in what they were doing and I was looking for a chat. I never mentioned that I wanted a job/contract from them (although, it's possible it could have been interpreted that way). I had an incredible hit rate of 3 out of the 18 people accepting the request but only one of them replied to my message. Apparently, it's common to receive a bad response rate on LinkedIn although there are exceptions. However, for the average user - it isn't easy to make new connections and get a chance to chat especially when you don't share mutual connections with the other person. Although, it is a fabulous resource to learn about people's career journeys and if you share any mutual connections with them to get yourself some facetime.
My rating - 5 out of 10
3. Shapr -
This app felt like a mix between a dating app and LinkedIn. I had a success rate of about 30-40% but the connections I made didn't go beyond a few messages. It felt like an interesting way to meet people but I uninstalled it within 4 months as most conversations weren't going anywhere.
My rating - 3 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment