- Always keep your business cards on you! This is truly a city of connections, and everyone has gotten to where they are through connections! Do not be afraid to attend networking events and pass out your business cards. Once you give your business cards and they give you yours, be sure to follow up, which leads me to….
- Always follow-up! Once you make a connection and get a business card, be sure to follow-up! Just sending a quick follow-up email will form a connection. Although it feels a little awkward at first, starting the conversation is so important! Offering to buy someone coffee can start a lifelong friendship.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions! This is a town of interns and former interns! Almost every single person in this town has been in your position, so they welcome questions. Every person I have met in Washington D.C. has been so open to every question I have asked. They are more than willing to sit down for a coffee and have a chat.
- Attend every networking you can! When I moved to Washington D.C., I found “forced” networking events awkward. Here in D.C., the networking events are not awkward. Everyone here attends networking events so often that they are so good at them so they do not feel forced.
Mackenzie Chapman
Texas A&M University System Federal Relations Office
Washington, D.C. | summer 2023
