Hi,
This month my objective is to attend conferences and meet ups related to web development.
My question is how can I use these opportunities to network so that I can get a job as a junior front end developper?
Currently, I do not have work experience, nor do I have an academic degree in the field of Computer Science. I have a portfolio website with a few projects on it and a linkedIn page.
Thanks!
One piece of advice I have heard several times is not to treat the meet up as an opportunity to talk solely about yourself. If you find someone that happens to work at a place you’d love to work, rather than swerving the conversation to ‘get me a job there as soon as possible’, ask them what it’s like to work there, what projects they find interesting, what technologies they use, and show a real interest in them and the work.
It’s kinda conversation 101, but lots of people are bad at conversation. If you are the one that allows people to talk about what they love, you will be remembered fondly, and that can’t be a bad networking strategy.
By all means, if they ask you about projects you’ve enjoyed working on, be sure to sell yourself as a passionate problem solver etc…but don’t just go around shaking hands with every one saying what a great guy you are and that they should hire you 
Honestly, just talk to people. Learn from others. Ask questions. Answer questions that someone else asks if you can. Networking just means getting to know people. Don’t treat meetups like job fairs, but more like club meetings.
Relax and try to have some fun.
Thanks for your answers. I’m going to a meetup this evening. So I’ll just relax and be myself!
Sorry, it’s an English idiom / slang phrase.
“To catch the bug” of something means that you’ve been exposed to something that you end up really enjoying.
It comes from the idea of catching a cold / flu (bug is slang for germs) — now that I think about it, the idiom falls down a bit, since have a cold or flu is not nearly as fun as going to a coding Meetup!
When a bunch of coders are trying to debug one of the member’s program and they’re all congregating around the laptop, their faces aglow, like insects flying around a light bulb. 