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Meh...working in the opposite direction, I just took two companies that, off the top of my head, would seem like attractive places to work (Stripe and AirBnB). Both have listed openings of the somewhat rare position that I'd be looking for (Engineering Manager). I went to LinkedIn and searched for each company and looked at just recruiting profiles. I found 12 and 8 mutual contacts, respectively, that I could easily ask to pocket a referral bonus in exchange for forwarding my resume along with a small recommendation note.

Granted, I make the effort to network, especially with people who I have enough of a working relationship with that they'd recommend me. But it seems just based on my quick sanity check, that networking could easily work well enough to find a job should I decide I need one. And that's not even counting the 4-5 unsolicited contacts per month that come in from recruiters that I was referred to them by someone I know.

Sample size of 1 and perhaps I distinguish myself more than others, but I can say with certainty that the effort I've put into networking means I won't have problems getting an interview in the current market. If the market tanks, the story might be different.

What do you understand as "Engineering Manager"? In software an engineer that upgraded to managing other engineers seems to be common practice.

Yes, it's common practice. It's how I originally became a manager. That's why it's somewhat rare to see job openings for those management positions. Most companies would rather promote from within than hire an someone from outside the company. Managers are often most effective when the people being managed believe they understand the work being done intimately and the easiest way to show that is to have done that work prior to becoming a manager.

But management is also a discipline apart from the work being done by the team. I made a ton of mistakes early in my time as a manager. I was also fortunate enough to work for a company that had a management training program that was hugely helpful. And I'm also fortunate to have a parent that teaches interpersonal dynamics in a business school, so I've had a lot of exposure to the theory behind the practice. I feel this has made me a lot better manager now than I was when I first started, despite the fact that my actual abilities to write code have suffered somewhat from lack of practice.

Yeah, alright. That makes sense.

Dunno- I got my current job through exactly one connection. I wasn't even sure I wanted a job, at the time, but he kept pestering me to come in and interview, and eventually I did. I'm not unhappy about it- it's nice to have a paycheck.

But I think your math is off.

It is off because it assumes :

- you need powerful people

- you need to know people well

- you need to know them IRL

- you need to know them if they know you

- one person can only help you get a job at one place

- the person must be in your line of work

However my experience has been rather:

- anybody has the potential to bring you an opportunity. They have friends, family and colleagues, and they talk. My first internship was from the cousin of a friend of my mother needing somebody. 3 layers of indirection.

- superficial relationships (met once in a meetup, sport club, whatever) do carry opportunity. When people are looking for a worker, they prefer somebody they know, but will rarely find it and settle for anybody they can assess.

- IRC channels, forum and social networks are all doors to get jobs. Even MMORPG, MOBA or RTS. Actually they are filled with geeks, they all work in companies having some need for a recruitment or the other. And they are having fun with you.

- Even if you don't know somebody, if the person knows your work, it's a start. Github is a great personal showcase. I personally don't send my resume first, but my link to my stackoverflow account because it's quite famous in the Python community.

- people can talk about you to somebody working at another company who heard someone needed somebody, etc. Actually it often works that way: informal networking is the way humans connect the best. This is something I learned in Africa where it's the way of life, it's a lost art in our countries, were we do it reluctantly if we have no way around it.

- I'm currently working for a transport facility. Because my flat mate, not an IT person at all, works for one of their contractor, and he knows the project manager for one stuff where they needed something to be coded and he hooked us up. How ? We played laser tag 2 years ago, and so they know me and we just had diner to seal the deal. It's that stupid. And it worked. I delivered the software and they were happy.

You seem to be taking a somewhat minority position, based on replies.

I'm with you, but I think I see where others are coming from. I had job referrals before, and it can work. The dynamics of this are complicated, but the bottom line seems to be that networking works when it works, but not always or for everyone or in every job market. The reality is that lots of jobs get filled every day with a process very much like the one caricaturised in the piece.

Job-Worker matching as it's done today is haphazard, weird, biased... and almost certainly extremely inefficient.

But... I don't know that we have better examples matchmaking processes at scale. Do we? University selection? Dating? What's the scalable alternative?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it doesn't work. Surveys of people who got their last job show that many (most?) of them got it through a personal/professional connection. I think a lot of the replies here think I'm saying it doesn't work. It clearly does.

What I'm saying is that it doesn't seem reliable or scalable. Looking at my own network, the one's I've kept up with[1], which I think is pretty average, there are only a handful of people who actually work at a company I'd one day be interested in joining. I know I would easily exhaust the whole pool in a single job search (ask me how I know this). I'm not going to rely on that. To sum up the reliability aspect: I can't foresee a point in my career when I'll ever be able to say "I can rely entirely on my network for my next job search." If you can, congratulations, that's an enviable position.

To me, networking is like that great tool in your toolbox that _really works_ when it works. I think the network approach is most appropriate as a "fallback" when you are desperate for a job, would take anything, and can literally tap everyone you know in hopes of finding _something_.

1: That's another not-so-scalable aspect of networking: Maintenance. I would never out of the blue E-mail a former colleague with "Hey, I know I haven't talked to you even once in 20 years, but, HOW'S IT GOING?!? :) I noticed you work at a company I'm interested in [...]" Awkward! You have to actually keep up with everyone like you would a friend. I've seen people who can do it well, but jeez it must be positively exhausting staying in touch like that.

It is maybe a bit awkward, but I never begrudge anyone that does this with me. And over the years I've done it one or twice with people I haven't spoken to in many years.

> Let's generously assume that you meet and have excellent working relationships with 100 people at each of the 4 jobs you've had.

You need to realize that social life and networking goes well beyond your workplace.

This! Meetups, conferences, and social events are all great places to meet someone who might know someone who needs you skills.

Yes, the connection will be far weaker than any connection with a former colleague, but sometimes all you need is an inside connection to make your resume stand out just a bit more and to be that less of an unknown.

Weak connections actually being you into vastly different networks.

We must live vastly different lives. Otherwise, why would anyone want to spend their spare social time in job hunt mode? Sometimes I want to foster relationships I already have, not eternally be working on new ones.

Seems like the folks here go to conferences not to learn something, but to be part of a network and get a job; they go to programming/hacking/toying events or clubs not because they are interested in that hobby but to be part of a network and get a job; they call people to have news about them not because they like them but because they may use them later as a tool to get a job; they take part in open source projects despite having no problem to solve and no will to solve a user problem, but in order to build a portfolio and get a job. I find it very sad: always a main motivation which is job and money; no genuine interest in what they take part, not a bit of altruism either.

That's very cynical view of networking and I am very much offended by it.

I go to events and conferences because I am genuinely interested in them, I go there to listen to insightful presentations and talk to fellow programmers about interesting things, the motivation is never to "get a job later", that would be sick. The "networking effect" comes much later when you become close enough to naturally tap on them for job opportunities without feeling awkward or anything.

In other words, you don't go for conferences to find job opportunities, that's not the end, but the natural effect of knowing a lot of awesome people with the same interest as you.

Heck, I dare to go one step further to say that the purpose of a full-time job for me is just to meet more awesome programmers.

I feel you. In the last decade I have had to dial my outside tech/networking way back due to other obligations.

You can pick a few meetups (or even just one) to focus on, or you can be on the lookout when you meet casual acquaintances (perhaps at other social events).

I wouldn't want to spend all my social time in work hunting mode, but a small regular investment can pay dividends (depending on how happy you are in your current position).

Another reason to do such activities is the opportunity to help others. I love when I am talking to others and find out about a position that isn't a fit for me, but may be great for someone else I know. Hooking up two acquaintances in a possibly mutual beneficial way is low energy (not too much work) and yet high impact (people remember who helped them get a job).

I discovered this can be as easy as clicking"like" on a LinkedIn in post: http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/2180

It's not "job hunt mode", it's "face time mode". You want to be visible, and you want people to be aware of your capabilities. If you're accomplishing that in ways that don't cut into your other social activities, that sounds ideal.

Another article on the topic yesterday:https://www.fastcompany.com/3069166/i-built-a-bot-to-apply-t...

TRUE: “Out-of-the-box hires rarely happen through LinkedIn applications. They happen when someone influential meets a really interesting person and says, ‘Let’s create a position for you.’”

> be willing to stick their neck out help you with your next job search.

It doesn't require you to risk anything to put in a referral. Maybe a referral + recommendation, but not just a referral.

> Whenever this subject comes up, predictably the answer here is always [...] network network network. [...] The numbers just don't make sense to me.

Yet networking, in one form or another, is how many if not most people land their jobs. Perhaps a poll is in order here?

I suspect your definition of what constitutes "a network" is what makes the odds you calculate look like a search for extraterrestrial intelligence. It's nothing like that.

If we did a poll right here, I would wager that more people got their current position through a third party lead or inside contact than through submission to an online job application.

Networking at work gets you promotions within a company. I've gotten two promotions and a 40% pay increase in the past three years, and I think a lot of it is from hanging out with people at work functions and talking to lots of people on slack.

The actual jobs I've gotten from networking were either family connections or people I met going to raves when I was younger, or people I talk to online about tech stuff.

I think you overestimate the investment required in a relationship to get a job. Meeting someone at an event and having a 10 minute conversation is often enough to bypass the job posting resume screen.

Wonder if there's also a technological new service that could change all this?

Have none of you people heard of linkedin?

Yes. I don't get why people hate on LinkedIn so much. Well I do get it, but the value of, as a friend put it, a Rolodex where someone else does the updating is tremendous when prospecting for a new job.