Hey! I know that you have some posts about jobs/job hunting; do you also happen to have some about networking? I couldn’t find too much from a search of your blog and just wondering if I missed something!

copperbadge:

Honestly, I’m crap at networking so I’ve never felt like I ought to tell other people how to do it 😀 If it’s not in my job hunting masterpost, I probably haven’t written about it, at least in terms of job stuff, so you’re not missing anything, at least.

I have personal feelings about networking, some of which are just plain “I think this is bullshit” teenage-style rebellion, but in the past ten years my belief that networking is bullshit has been somewhat upheld (see also more recently) – networking used to be how you heard about jobs, but now with the advent of the internet, jobs are easy to list, and you will find all the jobs that a company is hiring for on their HR website. And if you don’t have a deep, longstanding relationship with someone at the company where you’re applying, networking probably won’t matter in terms of getting the interview. 

I also feel that very few people are skilled enough at social mechanics that they do themselves more good than harm. Too often, even at events designed for networking, even when the people are experienced networkers, it comes off as creepy and manipulative. It’s why I stopped doing it – it had no visible result and I didn’t feel comfortable acting that creepy. Now I make a conscious choice to avoid networking events, or if I can’t, to attend them as if they were a party for a group of people I don’t know – I’m content to be quiet. If someone wants to talk, I am polite and interested but I have no expectation from it, and if I find it boring or negative, I excuse myself. 

Most of the jobs I have had finalist interviews for or been offered have not been the product of networking; I applied cold in almost every case. I’m sure being a straight white male has a lot to do with my acceptance rate, so take that into account. But I have found that a really good resume and cover letter have gotten me further than a handshake and a conversation ever did. That’s my personal experience, for what it’s worth.