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‘Remember their names’ and other top tips from UoB Bar Society’s networking guide

Critics are terming it ‘the best thing since Gemma Collins’s The GC: How to Be a Diva’


If LinkedIn gets your pulse racing and ring binders stand your hair on end, you won’t be able to contain your excitement when you read Bristol University Bar Society’s guide to networking.

Posted on Facebook, this document is packed full of top tips for any budding lawyers looking to break into the world of wigs and gavels.

But it's not just useful for lawyers. We can all learn from this seminal text.

So, here it is.

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“Some people like handshakes, others may not”

It’s the winter season and our old foe, influenza, is once more on the march. Instead of a handshake, try the more hygienic fist-bump, or simply do Jesse Lingard’s celebration of choice and wait for their response.

“Remember their names”

“Hang on? Did I meet you set me a rizla in Lakota smoking area at Hybrid Minds?” That’s passable between students. But these are people you want to be rubbing shoulders with in the city. You’ve got to remember their names!

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“Watch how much you drink!”

This one’s to be taken with a pinch of salt. If there’s a free bar…well…there’s a free bar. Did someone say Aperol Spritz? Don’t mind if I do (don’t mind if I don’t).

“Don’t be rude”

Again, don’t stress over this one. It’s the 21st century. No one wears ties anymore. What’s an F-bomb between friends, C-bomb between comrades, or an A-bomb at a law networking dinner? Who knows? Who cares?

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“Don’t constantly talk about yourself”

This one’s important…but only to a certain extent.

While you don’t want to bore your future employer with tales of backpacking around India, remember that you are quite a big deal on campus, and have a lot of interesting opinions on free speech and how Boris is actually an underrated chap.

Be sure to get in all you have to say before the evening’s out.