Why Great Coffee Chats Start Before the Conversation

Many job seekers approach networking with a goal in mind.

Land an interview.

Get a referral.

Find an opportunity.

The challenge is that opportunities rarely appear at the beginning of a conversation.

More often, they emerge after trust has been built.

And trust is difficult to build when a conversation begins without context.

That's why the most valuable Coffee Chats often begin before the conversation itself.

Better Questions Create Better Conversations

Many networking conversations follow a familiar pattern.

What do you do?

How did you get your job?

Do you have any advice?

The conversation is friendly.

The questions get answered.

Everyone thanks each other for their time.

And then nothing happens.

Not because anyone did anything wrong.

But because the conversation never moved beyond the surface.

The participants learned a little more about each other, but not enough to build a meaningful connection.