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.

I’m going to go the other side of the coin and share that my last 4 jobs I got because I knew someone but I do have to caveat it. In all of those cases, the job sector I was working in is rather tight knit and in one particular case, pretty darn small. So here is my unpacking of my last few job hunts.

I spent almost 18 months unemployed or vastly under-employed in the San Francisco area before a friend who worked in theater mentioned she needed part-time box office staff. From there I eventually was able to shift over to a full-time permanent position (tl;dr for that one? put the time in at an entry level position and do a genuinely good job at it and that’s the best networking there is). The next two jobs were springboards off of that one: one into event management and the other a different part-time box office job. Live theater is an incredibly small sub-community (think somewhere between a niche and small fandom and you won’t be wrong) and after 5 years just working at one theater I now knew former co-workers at close to a dozen theaters. The bigger trick is when you start working there connect with people on LinkedIn, especially the supervisors, bosses and if it applies and you actually interact with them? Board members. Why? Well, some of it is direct networking but more importantly LinkedIn will show you what job openings are available at all those places your connections work. It’s a way to cut down on the firehose that is those giant job boards that can be overwhelming, especially when you first start the hunt.

My most recent job hunt took five months. I applied to between five and ten places a day that I qualified for five days a week, and when it was a company that I knew someone was at I always sent them a message and let them know I was applying there and if they felt I was a good choice for the company to put in a recommendation for me. (I applied at a lot of places where I didn’t know anyone via Indeed, Glassdoor, temp/perm agencies and craigslist.) The only places I got call backs or interviews for were places that I had connections at. And fwiw I’m a straight passing white middle aged female. In the Bay Area, even with great credentials, the age bias is real and it made the hunt even harder. I’d get calls but I could tell 30 seconds into the in-person interview I wasn’t going to get the job. The job I ended up taking was a friend of a friend that I never would have considered otherwise and I ended up moving to another area and out of California entirely. 

I? Am terrible and awkward at in person social networking but I am good at being a nerd on the internet and over the last twentyish years I’ve made sure to always connect with people on LinkedIn or had a professional email address or personal one to hold onto. It may not be the classic ‘networking’ that they tell you to do but what I did worked for me.  Oh, and I didn’t spam all my contacts with emails telling them I was looking for a job nor did I message them on LinkedIn. I just changed my headline/activity to ‘looking for a new opportunity’ and proceeded onwards with my job hunt.

The great thing about something like LinkedIn, especially when you do the connection thing with people more senior than you is that in a few years they are continuing to rise in seniority and you end up with some people who manage dozens of people and therefore are highly likely to have opportunities at all levels of experience and expertise.

Final note: The Bay Area is a hyper-competitive job market, especially in tech and program/project management and has been for the last three or four years. It shows no signs of slowing down and many people that i know are working two or three jobs. YMMV.

Other final note: Yeah, I’ve been at this a while but there is no reason why even with a dozen people that you can find on LinkedIn that it’s a solid start. Doing a decent profile on there is a whole other post and now I feel like an ad for the website but it’s a valuable one. I know plenty of folks who could substitute the word Facebook or Twitter or even Instagram for LinkedIn to build passive connections that they then use as a filter for finding jobs. Introverts unite!