The Best of Both Worlds for Interns and Recent Grads

Over the summer, interns testing out the corporate waters and recent graduates just starting their new jobs flood the streets of NYC. There are 100 reasons why being in the city is an amazing opportunity but we’re focusing on one: the chance to build your network in a fun way. Like we touched on in our Summer Internship Blog Post, it’s all about building your personal brand and your personal network.

Your resume will evolve and summer internships will get pushed off the page (for those of you with that annoying second page, consider this a callout). The connections you make will benefit you time and again throughout your career. Be conscious of that. Meet as many people as you can and stay on your A-game at all times. Don’t be afraid to grab a beer with your boss! Chances are he’s buying…

But it’s not only about cozying up to your superiors. Meeting peers in your space and in other industries will help your career development. You never know when you’ll need a favor or when it will come in handy to know the right people. We all have those friends who seem to know everybody, either through summer camps or just their natural social abilities. These people will have an easier time rising through the ranks.

Sometimes networking events get a bad wrap. People think of name tags, business cards, and awkward hand shakes. For interns and recent grads this should NOT be the case. At this stage in the game, networking should be about beers and a good time. Meet good people, have a good time, and commiserate about being kept late at the office while your boss heads to the Hamptons for the weekend.

This summer we’ve teamed up with young professional networks like Sumeria and awesome startups like Shindig to host our own happy hour networking series. It’s every Thursday starting at 7pm at PS450 and focuses on interns and young professionals in NYC. Think Turtle Bay minus the long bar lines and plus an included open bar.

To reward our loyal blog readers, we created the promo code “blogVIP”. The first 10 people to use the code will get a free open bar. Share the event link with your friends!