You can hold a meeting for an hour. You cannot hold four minutes with a stranger, and you've decided that's just who you are.
why "what do you do" is so hard — 2 min read
SO WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I'm a senior data analyst at a fintech.”
→ “I find out why the numbers a company reports and the numbers it actually has are different. Usually it's one spreadsheet somebody built in 2019.”
The first is a job title, which is where conversations go to die — there's nothing to ask about. The second hands them the follow-up question for free.
Then the part nobody talks about: the message you didn't send afterwards. The person you got on well with whose name you never followed up. That's where the value was, and it evaporated in the taxi.
Your network is the thing you neglected while you were busy being good at the job.
You don't need to become the loudest person in the room. You need one answer to one question that gives somebody something to say back.
HOW IT WORKS
● REC0:29
Are you here for
the whole thing?
I'm in ops at
a logistics firm.
…so, yeah.
ANALYZED
YOUR DELIVERY
48
HOOKS OFFERED0
QUESTIONS BACK0
ENDINGTRAILED
"You gave a title, not a hook. There was nothing for them to ask about."
Say it out loud. Get scored 0–100. Hear exactly what to fix — down to the word.
90sPER SESSION
0–100SCORED
The forty seconds it usually turns on
Scroll through. Count how many you recognise.
"So what do you do?"Joining a group of three already talkingLeaving a conversation without it being rudeThe follow-up message you never sendSomeone whose work you admire, in a corridorThe conference dinner where you know nobodyAsking for the introductionBeing remembered a week later+ 200 more
For mid-career people who suddenly need a network
Usually the trigger is specific: a layoff, a move, a company that's gone quiet. You built a career on doing the work well and it turns out that was half of it.
The Answer That Opens
What you do, said so there's something to ask about
5
Getting In and Out
Joining a conversation, and leaving one cleanly
5
The Follow-Up
The message that isn't awkward, sent the next morning