TFW you learn that “networking” is just expressing interest in an eager human way??

For all the advice we all got in journalism classes and college advisory sessions to “network” and “ask people to coffee” to “pick their brains,” there was always a suspiciously sparse amount on info on how to **actually** do it without, like, coming off like an internet-stalky psycho or just a very desperate kid. Which is why we like this Harvard Business Review article on How To Reach Out To Someone Whose Career You Admire, because it’s not out here drafting this ~hi just reaching out~ emails for you, but it does get at the heart of how to navigate the line between coming off as a total fanboi/thirsty job applicant vs. coming off as an eager human with similar interests. 

If you want even more practical advice, we also bookmarked this blog post from Dan Oshinsky, The New Yorker’s newsletter director, which spells out a very clever trick: instead of asking people with mad busy schedules out to coffee, offer to bring the coffee to them.

Tl;dr, make it easy on people to help you out, AND fulfill your Devil Wears Prada fantasies of running around w/a bunch of iced coffees dripping down your wrist all at once, you multi-tasker you!!