During the PhD · Be memorable

Conferences: before, during and after

A conference is not where you network. It is where you meet the people you already contacted. The work happens before you arrive and after you leave.

4 min read · By Marc Sleiman

Most students treat a conference as the place where networking happens. They arrive, hope to bump into the right people, and leave with a stack of business cards from people they will never speak to again. The students who come home with real leads do the opposite. For them, the conference is where they meet the people they already contacted weeks before. The real work happens before they arrive and after they leave.

Choose the right rooms

If you want an industry job, academic conferences alone will not get you there, because the people who hire economists outside academia are often not in those rooms. Look for events where practitioners gather: the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) annual meeting and its technology economics conference, industry conferences in your target sector, regional economics association meetings that draw government and business economists, and field associations in health, energy, real estate or agriculture that have many members outside academia. The societies page lists sixty associations and highlights the ones with strong industry ties. The large ASSA/AEA meeting in January matters too, especially if you are on the economics job market.

Check whether the event has a student rate, a volunteer program that waives fees, or a way to upload your CV in advance so employers can find you. Some do, and it costs nothing to ask.

Before: reach out to 50 to 100 people

Three to four weeks before the event, look at the program, the speaker list and, if available, the attendee list. Look up the companies sending people and search LinkedIn for anyone from those companies who mentions the event. Build a list of fifty to a hundred people you would like to meet.

That number sounds high, and it is meant to. Most people will not reply. Many who reply will be busy. If you contact fifty to a hundred, you can realistically land five to ten actual conversations, and five to ten good conversations is an excellent result for one conference. Contact five, and you will probably land none.

Send each person a short, specific message about ten days before the event. For example:

It names something specific about them, says in one line who you are and what you work on, asks for something small and lets them say no easily. Track every message in a spreadsheet with the date, the reply and any meeting time.

Before you leave, prepare your thirty-second pitch, your brochure and a short note on each person you are meeting: their role, their company and one question you want to ask them.

During: be the person they remember

When you meet someone, lead with your hook, then turn the conversation to them quickly. Ask about their work and the problems their team is facing. People remember conversations where they did most of the talking and felt understood. If there is a natural connection to what you do, make it in one sentence and offer your brochure.

Connect on LinkedIn right there, while you are standing together; it takes ten seconds on a phone and avoids losing a business card. Attend the sessions where the people on your list are speaking, and ask a good question from the floor. A thoughtful question in front of a room is one of the best introductions there is.

Do not spend the whole event with people from your own department. It is comfortable, and it is a waste of the trip.

The same night: write it down

Every evening, before you do anything else, write notes on everyone you met that day: their name, their company, what you talked about, anything personal they mentioned and what you promised to send. This takes fifteen minutes and it is the most important thing you do all conference. People meet so many others at these events that within a day, faces and names blur together, for them and for you. Your notes are what let you follow up with something specific.

After: follow up within 48 hours

Send a short follow-up to everyone you had a real conversation with within two days. Mention one specific thing from your conversation, send anything you promised, and suggest a next step if it makes sense. For example:

Then keep the relationship warm over the following months, as described on the LinkedIn page. The follow-up is where most people drop off, which is exactly why doing it well makes you stand out.

Practical details

Large conferences involve a lot of walking between buildings, sometimes in winter weather, and interviews are often scheduled back to back. Wear comfortable shoes you can walk fast in, carry water and snacks, and keep your phone charged. Check every meeting time twice, including the time zone. Arriving on time and unflustered is part of making a good impression.