Networking was a big scam to me until last month

I spent 5 years thinking networking was just handing out business cards at boring events and pretending to care about someone's golf game. But then my old coworker got me into a small Slack group for people in our field. Just 30 people, no suits, no awkward small talk. Someone posted about a contract opening at their company and I got a call back in 2 days after applying. That never happened with any of my 50 online applications. It finally clicked that networking is really just building real friendships where people actually want to help you out. Has anyone else changed their mind about something they swore was useless for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavinhunt1mo ago

Man that Slack group thing hit close to home. I had a similar experience with a private Facebook group for property managers, totally changed how I saw the whole networking thing. It's like once you strip away the stiff handshakes and forced conversations, it just becomes normal people looking out for each other. Those big conference room events always felt like a waste of time to me too, but a small group of folks who actually share the same headaches makes a world of difference. Glad you found your crew, it really is about the real connections more than anything else.

paul_morgan1mo ago

Stripping away the formal stuff really does show you who's actually in the same boat as you. I've noticed the same thing in hobby groups and even neighborhood forums, the real value comes from those quiet, honest conversations people have when they're not trying to impress anyone. It makes you wonder how many other connections we miss just because we're stuck in the stiff, formal version of things.