Here's something career advice rarely addresses: what to do AFTER you meet someone interesting. We all know the basics: connect on LinkedIn, but then what? It feels awkward to reach out later, so we just... don't. So in today's Mentor's Corner, I'll share how to turn those brief encounters into meaningful relationships.
This is Coached Weekly, my career notes where I share the tiny % of ideas that actually work in real careers. It takes 5 minutes to read, but could speed up your career by years. I write this myself (no AI) and I read your replies. —Rohan Mahtani (LinkedIn)
Want to log in to Coached or see your personality assessments? Login.
The 20-second Career tactic
I've coached people for a decade. Here's one idea that moves the needle. I teach it in 20 seconds.
Stop saying "does that make sense?”
It's tempting to ask this after explaining something, but it signals uncertainty — you're basically asking people to confirm you did a good enough job communicating. It puts doubt on everything you just said. Ditch it. Along with stuff that makes you sound uncertain — like: "Am I being clear?" "Sorry, that was probably confusing.".
Instead, when you're done, try: "What questions do you have?" or "That was a lot — anything worth revisiting?"
Small swap, but it shifts you from seeking validation to inviting discussion. Much stronger.
Heads up:
Working on your resume or know someone who is?
Don’t forget that you can get a free resume review here.
It’ll speed up your job search (or your friend’s).
Mentor's Corner
Insights put together by me. One practical lesson a week that will make a measurable impact on your career, delivered right to you — for $0.
How I turn strangers into authentic connections
A long time ago, on a random YouTube video, a dating coach said something I've never forgotten: "Most of you have already met the love of your life. You just didn't go up and talk to them. And the scary part is — if you bumped into them tomorrow, you still wouldn't know what to do."
Same thing happens in your career.
You meet someone good — at a conference, on a call, through a friend — exchange LinkedIn, and they vanish into your contacts. Six months later you're wondering why your network feels thin.
The problem isn't who you know. It's what you do with them.
That's what this essay's about.
❌ The withdrawal-only person
The worst networking pattern goes like this: you meet someone, add them on LinkedIn, never speak, and pop up three years later asking for a favour.
People can feel this the moment it lands in their inbox. It's cold. Over time, it trains their brain to associate your name with asks — so the next time they see your email, there's a small pang of dread before they open it.
The people who actually have networks do the opposite. They make deposits — a quick congrats when something good happens, an article they thought you'd like, an intro you didn't ask for. When one of them asks you for something, you say yes before thinking.
When the withdrawal-person asks, you look for the exit.
🔂 The first deposit
The first deposit is the follow-up — a short email within 48 hours of meeting someone.
The key is specificity. Not "nice to meet you" (that’s pretty bad, it signals you're on autopilot). Reference something concrete: the story they told, the problem they were trying to solve, the thing they mentioned wanting to read.
Something like:
✅ "Hey Susan — really enjoyed meeting you yesterday. Your Prado story still has me laughing. That article on pricing I mentioned is here [link] — think you'll find section 3 especially useful. Let me know when you're next in town, would love to grab coffee."
It's specific (the Prado story), adds value (the article), has a clear next step (coffee). Five minutes of work and you're in the top 5% of people they met that week.
🌟 Stay remembered
The follow-up covers the first 48 hours. The harder part is the next 12 months.
Most relationships fizzle because there's no reason to reach out. It's awkward to message someone "hey, how are you?" every few months with nothing else to say. So you don't. And eventually you're strangers again.
The way around it: be a good friend, even to people you barely know. Remember stuff about them. Did they mention they were stressed about a launch? Ask how it went in 2 weeks. See they got promoted? Send a quick congrats. Come across something they'd find interesting? Forward it.
My buddy’s great at that last one. He reads a lot, and when he finds something he knows someone would like, he sends it — "idk if relevant, but thought I'd share." Takes him zero extra time because he's reading anyway. He’s not doing it for a response, and most of the time he doesn’t get one. But his connections love it (they get a new perspective!) and his network stays ‘alive’.
Try it. Write down what people are into when you meet them — notes app, whatever — most people forget within a month, and the ones who don't stand out.
And if you're not someone who reads a lot but want things to forward to people, AI can help: ask AI for recent articles and news in their background they'd find interesting. You get something worth sending in 30 seconds.
📡 Connect people
One of the best deposits you can make is introducing two people who should know each other.
"Kim, meet Steve. You're both working on [thing]. Thought you'd have a lot to talk about."
A lot of people are weirdly protective about their connections. Don't be.
Find and connect the dots in your network. Both sides remember you for it, and you become the hub.
🌐 LinkedIn, honestly
Most of you know I post on LinkedIn pretty frequently. Tbh, it doesn’t really bring in a lot of signups to Coached or Resume Worded. So having a lot of followers doesn’t have much business value.
But often when I meet someone in my wider network, they mention they've enjoyed my posts. Friends I haven't spoken to in years reach out after something I shared. It keeps you in people's minds without having to message each of them individually. That's the key value: it keeps you warm in hundreds of people's minds at once, without you having to message each of them.
And it makes all of the above easier. When you reach out to follow up, share something, or reconnect — it doesn't feel out of the blue, because you've been on their radar.
People stay connected to interesting people. So post what you're learning. Share what you're building. Throw in something funny. Don't do the "I was at a gas station when a stranger taught me the meaning of leadership" stuff. Be specific and be yourself.
(Make sure your profile's good first — use our free tool to optimize it.)
Hopefully that’s a piece of advice you haven’t heard before. If you enjoyed this:
Forward it to a friend, family member or colleague. It does truly make a difference.
If someone you know is on a job search, tell them to check out Resume Worded. It’ll make their job search a lot shorter.
Speak soon,
Rohan Mahtani
Founder at Coached & Resume Worded
Btw, I like reviews. They motivate me to keep the quality high. Like this one:
this is why I do this, thanks Noel! this was last week’s issue that she’s referring to
You can leave one here. I’d appreciate it. Thank you so much.
🤭 In all unseriousness
A few laughs to keep you smiling until next week
🤣 Important: it’s 2026. You shouldn’t be writing your cover letter from scratch anymore. This AI cover letter tool writes cover letters from scratch. And no one can tell it’s AI (unlike ChatGPT).
Try it just once for a job you actually want — see how good it is for yourself. Takes two seconds to get a great cover letter (instead of the usual 6 hours!).
⚡ Try our career tools
How strong is your resume?
Find out your resume's score based on millions of real data points
Is your LinkedIn profile getting you rejected?
Our AI tool will fix yours in a couple of minutes.
If you’re working on your resume, get your resume score here. The tool will write you hiring manager-approved bullet points (unlike ChatGPT).
If you’re new here, join at Coached.com to get the next one.
