One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
The damn word makes the activity it's supposed to encourage feels like at best a chore, at worse something dirty.
It sounds like people are forcing you "for your own good" to be in a conference full of hundred of strangers, which is not everyone's cup of tea.
At worse I imagine people telling me to add tons of strangers on LinkedIn and using them to reach my goals.
What I'm doing it much simpler and saner than "networking".
I invite friends and interesting people to have a coffee discussion.
Online and offline.
Pro-tip: usually people want to drink a virtual café with you, but finding the right time is difficult. Use a tool like Calendly to let them pick the time whenever they like
I’m a children’s musician and college algebra instructor working on a late-in-life iOS Dev career change. First project: a different kind of calendar for my dementia-challenged elderly mom.
Location
Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
Education
Master's in Mathematics
Pronouns
he/him
Work
Adjunct Instructor, College Algebra; Children's Musician
You described exactly what I think of when I hear the word. Oh, man, I've got to figure this out. It drains me thinking about it. As a brand new newbie what do I have to offer someone in a coffee discussion?
One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
Mostly you need to be genuinely interested in talking with him/her,
and the test for that is that you need to be able to explain why you want to talk.
I'm French, so I'm quite good at drinking coffee, I don't need that much convincing.
You would also tell me that you saw I love music and that you yourself are a children's musician.
Obviously, if the other is British or Japanese, invite for a virtual tea instead
You let me pick the date using calendly or a similar tool
and if I have time right now I would probably say yes.
The word networking really gets a bad rep. But it's just meeting people that's doing cool stuff and striking a convo with them like a normal human that's not trying to pitch anything or "get" anything from the person.
He/Him; Senior Software Developer, IT Swiss-army-knife, 3 programming blades, 1 hardware, 1 networking and infrastructure and a corkscrew. The tweezers have long since been lost. (Recent ADHD diag.)
I did one unit of networking yesterday on a rare in-person day. Ostensibly to meet my leader's manager's new boss (the VP of our digital technical side of the company.)
Several sub-units of networking were also completed.
Today, I rest.
One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
I genuinely hate the word networking
The damn word makes the activity it's supposed to encourage feels like at best a chore, at worse something dirty.
It sounds like people are forcing you "for your own good" to be in a conference full of hundred of strangers, which is not everyone's cup of tea.
At worse I imagine people telling me to add tons of strangers on LinkedIn and using them to reach my goals.
What I'm doing it much simpler and saner than "networking".
Pro-tip: usually people want to drink a virtual café with you, but finding the right time is difficult. Use a tool like Calendly to let them pick the time whenever they like
You described exactly what I think of when I hear the word. Oh, man, I've got to figure this out. It drains me thinking about it. As a brand new newbie what do I have to offer someone in a coffee discussion?
Mostly you need to be genuinely interested in talking with him/her,
and the test for that is that you need to be able to explain why you want to talk.
I'm French, so I'm quite good at drinking coffee, I don't need that much convincing.
You would also tell me that you saw I love music and that you yourself are a children's musician.
Obviously, if the other is British or Japanese, invite for a virtual tea instead
You let me pick the date using calendly or a similar tool
and if I have time right now I would probably say yes.
You will be surprised how often it works.
The word networking really gets a bad rep. But it's just meeting people that's doing cool stuff and striking a convo with them like a normal human that's not trying to pitch anything or "get" anything from the person.
I did one unit of networking yesterday on a rare in-person day. Ostensibly to meet my leader's manager's new boss (the VP of our digital technical side of the company.)
Several sub-units of networking were also completed.
Today, I rest.
That's my point that kind of forced networking is exhausting.
Otoh I usually feel energized after a café discussion with cool people