We asked W. P. Carey Alumni: What advice would you give a W. P. Carey student looking to have a coffee chat with a professional?
Here is what they shared:
- Ask Questions & Listen
- Prepare & Connect via LinkedIn
- Follow This Five-Step Coffee Chat Guide
Ask Questions and Listen
My biggest piece of advice during a coffee chat would be to ask a lot of questions and then listen. Don’t try to prove your worth by talking about yourself. You want to get where that person is in life. Ask them for advice. Try something like this: “You’re obviously very successful. What are the most important steps I can take to achieve the kind of success you have achieved?” “If you could go back and give your 20-year-old self any career advice, what would it be?” These questions not only stroke the ego of the professional but also tap into their fountain of earned wisdom.
Adam White, BS Business Administration ‘08, Founder, Serpple
Prepare and Connect via LinkedIn
I highly recommend getting ahead by connecting and having coffee with a professional who is doing what you want to do. Do your research in advance and be ready with thoughtful and relevant questions. You want to learn something from this expert, so have your questions ready! If you are genuinely interested in what that professional has to share, and you listen and ask more questions based on their answers, you might find your next mentor.
To find this professional, polish up your LinkedIn and reach out. LinkedIn lets you search for people who graduated from ASU or W. P. Carey. Firstly, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date. Including your college education is a big part of a complete LinkedIn profile, making it easy to find alumni and successful ones at that. Secondly, reach out to others who have done the same.
Eric Mulvin, BS Marketing ‘08, CEO, Pac Biz Outsourcing
Follow This Five-Step Coffee Chat Guide
A quick coffee chat is a great way to learn more about an industry, a company, or a job. I did that once when I was going to ASU, and I learned so much—in such a quick amount of time!
Here’s some advice…
1. Reach out to someone (maybe through a LinkedIn message) who works in a role you’re interested in, and let them know you would like to learn more about their job, industry, etc. Also, ask them for about an hour of their time and see what day(s) and time(s) work best for them to meet. Note: You will not want to take more than 90 minutes of their time… time is precious!
2. Prepare about 5-10 questions to ask them. (Ex: What does your day-to-day look like?)
3. Order first and then pay for their coffee/tea (ordering first ensures they don’t pay for themselves too quickly!)
4. Send them a thank you note for their time and for sharing their experiences with you.
5. Connect with them on LinkedIn and stay in touch!
Maddie Hayes, BS Marketing and Business Communication ‘18, Corporate Communications Specialist, Avnet
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