Why is networking so awkward and hard to talk about?
Networking events feel awkward because it is hard to know what to talk about beyond basic application questions or figure out questions to ask. In the moment, people forget everything they researched and struggle to carry the conversation while walking around the room.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Defaulting to generic questions about internships, career paths, and workplace cultureDid this help you?
- 2Asking how to stand out in the applicationDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I felt that most were basic conversations and I really struggled to carry the conversation or figure out a question to ask.”source ↗
“In the moment, I seem to forget everything I learned or researched.”source ↗
“It all just felt very awkward in the moment, walking around the room, staking out people, planning conversations.”source ↗
“I always feel that it’s kinda awkward to talk in those settings. Also, I don’t really know what to talk about besides asking how I can stand out in my application.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How do you actually build a professional network from scratch?
- 5Finding professionals to interview for a class project without connections
- 2Is it okay to skip a networking event if I'm not prepared?
- 5Why are industry conferences so overcrowded and useless?
- 3How to stop unwanted small talk with a plane seatmate
- 5Anxiety about mixing different friend groups