The key to great networking questions is the research you're able to do ahead of time.

If you know the name of the specific company or companies that will be at the networking event and the specific roles available at those companies, you can do some online research on LinkedIn and on the company website(s).

Questions can include:

• I saw X article in the New York Times about a new division at your company, congratulations! Can you share a bit more about that?
• I see that X position is open in Y city. Are you familiar with that role?
• (If the company uses social media) Your Twitter/Instagram/etc. feed is really great! Did you attend X recent team event? How was it?

If you know recruiters and/or hiring managers will be in attendance, this is a great opportunity to learn more about the company's hiring process and recruitment cycle.

Questions can include:

• For role X, what does the typical hiring process look like?
• I'm interested in role A for XYZ reasons. Can you share a bit in what you look for in your ideal candidate for the role?

*It's key in networking situations to try to hold off on asking for a referral or introduction until the person you are speaking with offers it. Depending on how your conversation goes, these offers generally come naturally.

The above was written from the perspective of job networking. You can use the same research-based approach for general networking as well. (i.e. Congrats on a successful quarter in Q3! I'm working a new project with a client and I think I can learn some things from you. How did your team manage XYZ challenge?)