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6 tips for successful networking

In this blog post we asked Ana Devdariani, alumna, head of communications at IDEON and the moderator of our networking workshop, to share her best advice on networking and creating meaningful connections.

 

 

 

Any time you meet a new person, you are networking. If we look at it this way, turns out that the life itself is networking – relationship building, and it takes time and mutual engagement.

Networking is about investing yourself in building lasting relationships. The aim is not meeting every single person in the room, but instead truly connecting with the few you meet. When I arrive at a social event – be it a big conference, an office mingle or a dinner party, I apply the same approach.

1. Walk to your event!
If I attend a gathering after a long workday, I make sure to shake the day off before I arrive at the venue. I either walk or ride a bicycle instead of driving. Being physically active produces happier hormones in the body and makes us feel confident.

2. Arrive earlier!
I arrive a little bit earlier than expected. Human body experiences slight stress and confusion in unfamiliar settings. So I use these extra minutes to look around and get used to the environment.

Sometimes I do power posing – I stand with legs shoulder width apart and lift my hands up for 2-3 minutes. This technique changes the hormonal flow in the body and minimises cortisol which is a stress hormone.

3. Remember names and faces!
Once I’ve made sure that my head is clear and my body is calm, I greet the host and start introducing myself to other people. More often than not, I meet a group of people at the same time, and this makes it harder to remember the names. So I create vivid associations with people’s names and faces.

If someone is called Adam, I imagine them in Eden’s garden, or I think of my friend Adam and make a mental connection with him. Next time I meet Adam, vivid associations awaken in my brain, and the name comes naturally. As for the face, I choose a facial feature and exaggerate it. Maybe his eyes can be big apples from the garden. All of this sounds bizarre, and it’s meant to because the human brain loves vivid images and associations.

If you meet several people simultaneously, take your time to remember each of them. Show that you respect all of them and want to invest your time. As you walk away, you can make notes to make remembering even easier.

4. Be original!

You are interesting if you are genuinely interested. Even if it is a work-related gathering, you do not have to talk about daily mundane tasks. “So, what do you work with?”- They have already answered this a dozen times. This question does not show your effort. You can be original and profession at the same time. Try asking – “What motivated you to study/work in this sphere?” You are still asking a professional question but showing interest in the person and their passion and drive. Remember, networking is about building a relationship, not about learning a person’s resume!

5. Give compliments!
Complimenting someone in a professional setting is just as appropriate as greeting them. Avoid commenting on people’s physical appearance and clothes. Make a compliment about their character. If someone asks an original question, you can tell them: “I appreciate the way you asked that question, it shows that you are a thoughtful person!” People’s actions say something about them, feel free to point out their characteristics and compliment on their personality.

6. Keep in touch!
You want to invest your time in each person. But avoid chatting with only one person the whole evening. Move on by asking them for their contact details and wishing them to meet other interesting people at the gathering. Once you have the contact information, follow up. If you didn’t feel comfortable about giving a compliment, this is the time to do it. Besides, feel free to make yourself useful and send them some relevant information – may be a link to an interesting article or an upcoming event. You may not want to follow up with everyone, and this is natural. If you don’t want to have coffee with a person who suggested it – be honest about it. Making a promise and breaking it is a big nono while networking.

First positive impressions are powerful and maintaining them are equally so. Stay in touch with people you meet, be genuine and useful and with time it won’t even feel like networking.

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Happening in Lund this spring

The new year is here and we hope that you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years celebrations. The beginning of January is the perfect time to start looking forward and planning for spring. Here are some highlights from the Lund University calendar with events to look out for this next semester. Please note that some of the events will be held only in Swedish.

Public Lecture on climate resilience: A conversation between disasters and development | 16 January, 13:00-14:00
A seminar where Tom Downing and Mo Hamza will have a discussion based on three stories from Syria. The seminar will be chaired by Emily Boyd and active participation from the audience will be encouraged. Click here to read more.

CIRCLE Seminar Series – Francesco Di Lorenzo | 17 January, 14:00-15:00 Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Business at the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization of the Copenhagen Business School, Francesco Di Lorenzo, will talk about his research areas strategic management and economics and management of innovation. Click here to read more.

Open lecture: Major Healthcare Issues in Jordan: What are they and Why Challenging? | 22 January 16:00-17:00
Khalil Yousef, PhD, RN. Assistant Professor, University of Jordan will in this lecture talk about smoking, B12 deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, cancer and other challenging healthcare issues in Jordan. Click here to read more. A second open lecture with Khalil Yousef about neurocritical care in Jordan will be held on 23 January, 10:00-12:00, and you can read more about it here.

Assessing 40 years of reform and opening in China | 23-25 January
In 2018 it’s been 40 years since the initiation of China’s ‘Reform and Opening period’. During three days you can listen to several speakers discussing different aspects of the transformations China have gone through since the start of this period. Read more and find the programme for the three days here.

Lund University’s Annual Celebration | 26 January, 16:00
A celebration with music, a speech by Vice-Chancellor Torbjörn von Schantz, a short lecture and some refreshments and mingle. Read more here.

Kick-off for the future | 28 January
The Lund University 350 jubilee will be concluded with a kick-off for the future. On this day you can enjoy an open house in the University Building with different activities, guided tours in the King’s House, a concert in the Cathedral of Lund, a kick-off ceremony and last but not least a dinner in the AF Building. Click here to read more and register for the different events during the day.

Lectures in the series “Klimat, miljö och hållbarhet” | January-May
The lecture series “Klimat, miljö och hållbarhet” (climate, environment and sustainability) is a collaboration between Sweden’s society for the conservation of Nature, Lund University’s sustainability forum and Lund’s city library. Here are the dates for the different lectures during spring, click on each one of them to read more about that specific lecture: 31 January, 7 February, 28 February, 7 March, 14 March, 11 April, 25 April, 26 April, 9 May, 23 May. The lectures will be held in Swedish.

Love@Lund | 14 February
The opening of the exhibition about love stories that started in Lund. This is an exclusive alumni event, keep an eye out on the blog and your e-mail for more information and an invitation. Please note that only alumni registered in the Lund University Alumni network you will get an invitation. Not yet a member? Click here to register!

The job interview | 21 February
 A seminar for those of you who wants to learn more about how to do a great job interview in Sweden. Susanne Linné, Career Coordinator at Lund University, will let you know more about how to prepare for an interview, what to expect during the interview, questions that’s usually asked and what not to forget after the interview. Click here to read more and register.

Open house at Lund University | March 17
Bring someone who’s interested in studying at Lund University and meet with current students, career consultants, get information about studying abroad, listen to lectures and get a guided tour around Lund. Read more here.

Hållbarhetsveckan i Lund 2018 | 23-28 April
Lund’s annual Sustainability week with many events on the subject. Click here to read more.

Lundakarnevalen | 18-20 May
The carnival is organised every forth year by students in Lund and it will be three days filled with entertainment, lotteries, “studentspex”, music and lots of food and drinks. Make sure you don’t miss the carnival-train that walks around town during the three days! The carnival area is located in Lundagård. Follow their Facebook-page here and visit their website here.

This is only a brief overview of what will happen this spring and many more events will come. Keep an eye on the calender for Lund University’s activities here. Things to expect are more seminars and lectures, concerts, exhibitions and of course more exciting alumni events. We hope you get a spring filled with new knowledge, new friends and many fun times!

2018-01-03

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Do you remember the University Library?

The University Library, located in the centre of Lund, was recently elected as the most beautiful building in Lund (reader contest in Sydsvenskan, autumn 2017). It’s appearance changes with the seasons and it’s a very popular photo object. You can come to the University Library to study, have a coffee, explore an exhibition or just walk around and be amazed by all the literature they store in there. During the warmer months many students take their studies with them outside to enjoy some sun in the University Library park. You can also explore the many beautiful sculptures placed out in the park.

When it was first founded, in 1666, the library was located close to the Cathedral of Lund. After some time it moved into the King’s House but it didn’t take too long before all the books, journals and other collections had grown out of it’s premises and had to move again. It was decided a completely new library building should be built and in 1907 the magnificent building at Helgonabacken, designed by Alfred Hellerström, was completed. This is where the library still is today. The library is a research library, and is responsible for the historical collections, special collections and Swedish printed material. The collections grow every year and even though the building has been expanded several times  some parts of the collections now has to be stored in other buildings as well.

Next time you come back and visit us in Lund you should take some time to re-explore the University Library, relive some memories and maybe find some things about it that you didn’t notice before.

Facts and information from the University Library’s webpage: https://www.ub.lu.se/om-oss.

2017-12-27

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Happy Holidays

We at the Alumni Office, Maria, Karen and Johanna, wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for 2017 and looking forward to seeing you in 2018!

Before we closed the office for the holidays, I took a quick walk through Lund city centre. In winter you need all the sun time you can get! And here’s what I found.

Karneval themed Christmas tree
The Lundakarnevalen poster

There’s a Karneval theme on this year’s Christmas tree at Stortorget. If there is one weekend you should mark in your calendar for 2018 it is 18-20 May and “Imaginalkarneval”, the next edition of Lundakarnevalen! Maybe a good time for a Lund reunion?

In a cupboard on Stortorget you find the official Lundakarnevalen poster. A psychedelic piece in pink and purple. For updates on Lundakarnevalen, follow their Facebook page here.

 

 

From all of us to all of you, a happy holiday and a really Happy New Year 2018!

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Why are there meatballs in a Swedish Christmas buffet?

Photo by Joel Wåreus/imagebank.sweden.se

Our editor of the Alumni Network newsletter, Lundensaren, asked Håkan Jönsson, ethnologist at Lund University, what meatballs are doing in the Swedish Christmas buffet. Why are they there, and why are they so important to us?

What is the meatball doing in the Christmas buffet?
Brief answer: It is there because people like it. Slightly longer answer: Because the Swedish Christmas buffet combines two previous meal concepts – the traditional smörgåsbord which was developed into a special buffet to accompany schnapps, and the French hors d’oeuvre tradition of small dishes.

 

When did it end up there?
It is hard to say exactly, but after the Second World War, which makes it a recent arrival on Swedish Christmas tables.

When did we start calling the Christmas buffet simply “Christmas dinner”?
The Swedish Christmas buffet became a concept when it was served in restaurants, as a Christmas version of a traditional smörgåsbord. This happened after the First World War.

What was originally included in the Christmas buffet?
The original Christmas meal in Sweden was, above all, an opportunity to eat your fill of fresh meat, otherwise very seldom consumed. Food containing blood also has a short shelf-life, so it needed to be eaten soon after slaughter, whereas whole animal parts such as hams were salted and eaten at a later date. Pork ribs and black pudding are the dishes most reminiscent of Medieval Christmas food. Along with bread; baking special Christmas bread which looked good was an important feature of the festive season. Each member of the household would get their own Christmas pile of bread, one of very few occasions on which the various individuals in the household could decide for themselves when to eat.

And why does the meatball recur on the Easter buffet?
Because it is a popular element of the smörgåsbord and has acquired an aura of seeming at once traditional and familiar.

Pickled herring, or sill, which is now an important part of both Christmas and Easter food, has certainly long been on the menu. But since it was a cheap everyday staple, pickled herring was rather less important for Christmas and Easter meals, whereas now the opposite is true.

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LU Alumna Ranks Among 35 Most Travelled Bloggers in 2017

While most students and alumni dream of travelling the globe, one of Lund University’s alumni didn’t stop at a single trip around the world this year.

Larissa aka The Blonde Gypsy

Larissa Olenicoff, who graduated from Lund University in 2012, is now a popular travel blogger. She shares travel stories on her blog blonde-gypsy.com and impressive photography on her Instagram account.

Her travels haven’t gone unnoticed by HomeToGo.com, which ranked 35 of the world’s best travel bloggers based on mileage for 2017. Using their full travel itineraries, HomeToGo calculated how far each of these intrepid travellers went over the course of the year.

Larissa Olenicoff has made it on the list and is the 20th most-travelled blogger of 2017! She covered a staggering 47,771 miles, which is almost twice around the world.

Her 2017 travels include a wide variety of destinations from Los Angeles to Antalya. She shares her travels with her 30,000+ social media and blog followers.

Kiersten Rich, from the Blonde Abroad, won the award with 154,964 miles covered in 2017. You can find the entire ranking here: https://www.hometogo.com/media/most-traveled-bloggers/

And if you want to learn more about Larissa Olenicoff, you can read her fascinating stories on her different social media accounts:

http://blonde-gypsy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheBlondeGypsy/

https://www.instagram.com/theblondegypsy/

https://twitter.com/theblondegypsy

Text : HomeToGo

2017-12-19

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Lucia morning

We would like to thank all alumni who joined us for our traditional Lucia breakfast in Pelarsalen in the University main building on 13 December. Meeting all of you and enjoying music from the very talented Carolinae Damkör was a fantastic way to start this dark December morning.

Enjoy some of the photos from the event in the album below. Photos by Marcus Järvinen.

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Q&A with alumna Margit Johansson

Margit took a Degree of Bachelor of Science in Social Work in Lund and graduated in 1986. She have long experience from working within the social services in Sweden and in this Q&A she tells us about what she likes most about her job today and how her time in Lund has influenced her career.

What have you been up to since your time here in Lund?
I’ve worked within the social services in Sweden, mainly with focus on children, youths and families. I started working as an administrator and later worked as a manager. Since two years back I’m working with regional development questions in a county-overlapping perspective, specifically in the field of social child- and youth care.

What is your best memory from your time at Lund University?
The studies made me develop as a person and the education gave me knowledge that has been useful and valuable to me both in my work and private life. The variation between intense studying and all the other parts of the student life in Lund, such as nights at nations, was fun.

How would you describe your first year after graduating?
I was nervous when getting out into “reality”, but I got good guidance from my colleagues which made it easier to get into my new job.

How has your time at Lund University influenced your career?
The knowledge I got from my education gave me the courage to challenge myself and try new things.

What is the most unexpected thing you learnt at Lund University?
That the more I learnt the greater insight did I get in how complicated things can be.

What is the best thing with your work today?
To get to work with development questions and by that get the opportunity to improve the social services in Sweden so that it can be better used for what it’s meant to be used for.

What would you like to say to current students who are soon graduating and now preparing to start their career?
Have the courage to challenge yourself, but never be scared to ask for help when you need it.

2017-12-11

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How does Lund University sound?

This fall Lund University, as the first university in Sweden (as far as we know), got a new sound identity. The sound identity was created by Johannes Dalenbäck and Christian Tellin at Mirror Music and in this interview Johannes tell us more about what a sound identity is, why it is important for an organisation to have one and where they got their inspiration for how Lund University should sound.

What is a sound identity?
Like a graphic identity describes what a company’s or organisation’s communication looks like a sound identity describes how the communication sounds. It’s a model that gives an overview of how the communication should sound in order to be uniform and mediate the “right” feeling.

Why is it important for an organisation to have a sound identity?
Sounds and music influence us in many different ways, whether we like it or not, and by taking control over how the communication sound you can control and guide how you want your message to be perceived. To work with music is to work with emotional communication which for example can affect how one remember things and relates to an experience.

Where did you find the inspiration to Lund Universty’s sound identity?
The inspiration came from workshops and interviews with co workers at Lund University. The participants told us about experiences and situations where the university is presented in different perspectives. To work from real situations and stories has been the key to create a foundation that can be translated to music.

What feelings do you want to deliver to the receivers when they hear something that comes from Lund University?
We want the music to strengthen the communication that comes from the university. What feeling the receiver should get to a large extent depends on the message the rest of the communication gives. Innovation, tradition and togetherness/belongingness/fellowship are feelings that constantly reappears in the university’s communication.

Since your are both LU alumni – have you been inspired by your own time at Lund university while creating the sound identity?
We’ve definitely thought about our own experiences during our period of studies, especially while thinking about how we have perceived the communication from Lund University. Although, it’s been important for us to let the the stories from the co workers weigh heaviest when creating the sounds because the music represent Lund University and not us personally.

What is your best memory from your time at Lund University?
There’s so many lovely memories so it’s hard to pick one. The trip to Paris with Malmö Academy of Music’s chamber chorus and the performance of a piece by the organist Nadji Hakim is high up on the list/are two favourites.

Want a taste of what Lund University sounds like? Click here to watch the presentation film about Lund University or click here to watch the Alumni Homecoming Weekend movie, both with music made by Johannes and Christian according to the sound identity.

2017-12-08

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Networking in Harare

Last week, a delegation from Lund University visited University of Zimbabwe and met with the Ambassador of Sweden, potential students as well as alumni and friends in Harare.

Up until a few days before going to Zimbabwe, the departure was uncertain due to the political circumstances. Luckily, the situation eventually settled and we were able to travel as planned. Lund University was the first delegation to visit University of Zimbabwe in the new era, and everyone we met was eager to collaborate. Previous sanctions had made them almost isolated for about 20 years, but now that they look forward to fruitful international collaboration.

The delegation with Lund University Vice-Chancellor Prof Torbjörn von Schantz participated in the annual SANORD-conference in Victoria Falls, which was also the 10-year celebration of SANORD as well as the council meeting. SANORD (Southern African-Nordic Centre) is the prioritised university-wide network for collaboration with Southern Africa and connects universities from the Nordic countries and Southern Africa.

On 27 November, the Alumni Network organised a networking event in Harare. Margareta Nordstrand, director of the Division of External Relations at Lund University and one of the hosts of the event, shares her experiences from the evening.

The event was held in connection to the university delegation visit to Zimbabwe and this was a great opportunity to meet with local Lund alumni and friends in Harare. The majority of alumni had either studied a master’s degree or were students of commissioned education courses at Lund University. All were proud alumni who have made great use of their Lund University education.

The key note speaker of the event was the Ambassador of Sweden to Zimbabwe, Sofia Calltorp, who emphasized the power and need of international relations in Zimbabwe today. It was certainly very interesting to visit Harare just a few days after the resignation of the former president Mugabe. Everyone was very happy that it had been a peaceful resignation and that the country now has an opportunity to have a new start. As a part of the new era, the interest and commitment from the rest of the world is very important and it was evident that the visit from Lund University had great symbolic value.

It was particularly interesting to listen to alumnus Tayson Mudarikiri who studied Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Lund. His work to help vulnerable women and girls in Harare is moving and inspiring. It is at moments like this when one truly sees the effect of Lund University’s vision – to be a world-class university that works to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

 

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Will you get chipped?

Last weekend I dove into the Netflix series Dark Net, a series about the cyber world’s most unique, and sometimes obscure, applications and the people who create and frequent them. In the second episode, we meet people who upgraded their bodies with technology in different ways. A man with a camera eye, the Most Connected Man on Earth”, Chris Dancy, and a story from Stockholm with an art director who implants a chip in her hand. Connected to this story we meet Hannes Sjöblad, Lund University alumnus, and Chief Disruption Officer at Epicenter, famous for his work and insights into near- and inbody technology. As a biohacker activist, he works to democratize public access to powerful biotechnologies by spreading information about this groundbreaking technology with decision-makers, media and schools.

Check out Hannes Sjöblad’s TEDx talk below:

The chip technology is already here. The Swedish company, (actually Skåne-based) Biohax International offers biohacking opportunities for businesses all around the world. The travel company TUI offers all employees in Sweden the chance to get a chip implanted for free to get access to printers and the office entrance. At the Swedish railway company, SJ, you can let the train host scan your hand in order to see your travelling documents. Thousands of Swedes already use these ticket services today (Expressen, 2017-05-18) Exciting and a little scary, isn’t it?

I’m not an early adopter (and maybe seen the Terminator too many times), so for now, I’m a bit skeptical about implanting my bank codes, gym membership and office access card into my body. However, the world may look a lot different in a decade or two.

What do you think? Would you be interested in implanting a chip in your hand?

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Lunch with a Pro Helsingborg 2017

Last week the event Lunch with a Pro Helsingborg took place. A networking lunch where students and alumni from the same area of studies got the opportunity to have lunch together while networking, asking questions and inspire each other. This was the second year of Lunch with a Pro Helsingborg and it was as successful as last year, a lot of new connections were made and I’m sure that both the students and pro’s learned a lot from each other.

  

Among the students at the lunch was Johanna Carlsson who studies Strategic communication at Campus Helsingborg. Johanna also participated in the event last year, when she had just started her first year of studies, and she went to the event with hopes of a nice lunch where she would hopefully learn something new. Little did she know that the event would actually give her much more than that. During the lunch Johanna sat next to the pro Johanna Peterson, a strategic communication alumna who works at Contentor Marketing. A few days later Johanna (student) got an e-mail from Johanna (pro) asking if she wanted to come to her workplace and try out the work for a day. One thing led to another and today Johanna has been working extra for Content Marketing for one year. She’s not only gained a lot of experience regarding her field of studies but also learnt a lot about being in a professional context.

Johanna Carlsson

This year Johanna participated in the lunch again to keep practicing her networking skills and get inspiration from meeting new people interested in the same field as her. This time she wasn’t as nervous as last time, felt more secure and was brave enough to take initiative to conversations with the pro’s she was interested in getting to know more. She recommends all students to participate in Lunch with a Pro or other networking events and give us her top tips to students who will participate in Lunch with a Pro (or another similar event) in the future:

  • Be prepared. Look up who you want to talk to in advance, learn about the person or company and prepare some questions you want to ask them.
  • Take initiative! Everyone is there for the same reason – to network. Don’t be afraid to make the first move and take contact with someone.
  • Relax and have fun 🙂
2017-11-27

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