What are meetups?
It's much like a networking event you have after a conference, except there has been no conference, you have purely joined the same online interest group. You mingle and chat, making contacts and gathering inside knowledge. If you are lucky, you may even gain a mentor.
My first meetup
I've been trying to find a professional women's group for various reasons: get support, advice, and make friends, but most importantly to improve my networking skills. One popular site to find meet up groups is meetup.com. TopFem, a group of ambitious young women, students and professionals were meeting this Wednesday. What was there to lose? Join!
I was a tiny bit apprehensive as I turned up at SkyLounge where city types spend £20 on a cocktail. But I found the group and sunk quickly into conversation; Are you new to the group? How long have you joined? What do you do?
It was great to meet similar minded ambitious young women and feel support on the experience of unfair gender biases. We all seemed aware of the fact that we can feel some kind of glass ceiling already at this stage of our careers.
The group has yet to fully clearly articulate its plans for a mentoring scheme, however it is in its early stages of development. The group did mostly consist of young women with less than 2 years of post graduate work experience, therefore the level may be too junior for me. However I am interested in becoming a mentor myself, I believe in giving I will receive just as much back in self belief and confidence in the skills and knowledge I have already gained.
What struck me about this group of young women, was that most of these women appeared confident and mature. However upon deeper conversation it seemed they had only just started their careers in the city. How lucky they possess this kind of charisma aged around 24! I believe most of these women will go far, ambition and confidence is a powerful combination. In a way, it was encouraging to know that this meant that I ought to behave even more confidently as a qualified professional with a few more years of work experience. I will use this to spur on my quest to increase self confidence and belief!
I will definitely be attending further meetups, to gain confidence in meeting new people and improve my skills in making an impression.