The painfully shy developer's guide to networking for a better job (2017)

This is a big problem with hiring. So many people think hiring is a simple problem that has a simple solution, but you're dealing with humans. There's so much variety in the way people think and act that there won't be a generalized solution. For some, networking outside of interviews so you can get a recommendation is a valid approach.

I curious if the author has experience with this working for startups and their ilk, which may not have become large enough to have a proper recruiting division.

The challenge networking potentially solves is getting a recruiter to pay attention to your resume, but from that point on your resume has to be impressive looking enough to get you to the interview room. And unfortunately I know (and helped) a lot of engineers who've done impressive work but didn't know how to put that on paper effectively.

That part takes a whole other skill

Please don't use it to get a job. There are objective criteria that companies would like to think they're using to hire the most qualified candidate (reality is probably very different). That's the best way to assure you don't hire non-performers and avoid the huge liability associated with choosing an arbitrary hiring process in many states.

I actually think it's more useful for a different reason: finding out who's doing interesting stuff, knowing where it's worthwhile applying.

So instead of networking and the like, I'd start a bit earlier even: You don't have to settle for what you have right now. You can do better. An interview is not a job application you have to see through to the end, you don't owe them anything. Know your worth.

I got my current job at a medium sized tech company by being fast tracked without a CV or technical interview

The magic of networking

Edit: ah yeah, and at my previous job I got told at the interview “you’re here despite your cv”

I literally wouldn’t have a career without networking

Comparing the resume to interview performance is misleading. Interview performance has far more impact than your resume does once you've gotten to the point of talking to actual humans at the hiring company. To illustrate my point: no company would hire someone with perfect qualifications on paper if they were, for example, abrasive or rude in their recruiter calls.

Interview performance is a big deal, and lots of devs don't like to admit this because of how uncomfortable it is. It truly is "performance": you are putting yourself on display for prospective coworkers, and being judged on that display. Nobody likes that feeling.

It's one of the big clashes between tech's meritocracy narrative and the day-to-day realities of workplace culture. It's a persistent belief among tech workers that "if I'm technically good enough or exceptional, anyone will accept me as a coworker". If you're being evaluated by an interview panel, and that panel is composed of people who have to work with you every day, this belief just ain't so.

Well, I wouldn't say 100%

I get how to socialize, I just know I'm bad at it, which causes anxiety, which compounds the problem.

I've managed to survive as a developer like this. Like you say, let yourself shine. If you do good work, people will notice, and eventually that will lead to meaningful connections. You have to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, but you don't have to become an extrovert.

There is no such concept; introversion-extraversion is a dimension on which people vary.

Can you clarify what distinction you're drawing here?

curious take..

But I think the post author does a great job of outlining the whole process. Key points:

   * have fun, try not to put pressure on yourself
   * get into the conversation normally
   * make it about the other person (but not to the point of fanboy/fangirl)
   * keep it short (a few minutes, 10 max)
   * ask if you can follow up
   * if given permission, follow up! (few folks do this, it can really separate you from the pack)

Extroverts find socializing energizing. And can find alone time draining.

Of course most people aren't fully in one or the other and some circumstances may change things.

Shyness is more the classification for social wariness which might be coupled with a perception or skills deficit in addition to the negative beliefs or feelings around socializing.

I'm definitely more on the introvert end of things. But after a long time of solitude I get a hankering for socialization and feel energized by interacting with friends and family, up to a certain duration. And then a while after that I can feel overwhelmed or drained and then need to find alone time for myself to recharge.

It'd matter to me. In some circles it's understood as acceptable in business networking; in other circles, it's insincere and manipulative.

My point is that despite what others in the comment chain state, there are reasons to stay at a place other than simply a little more money, especially when you consider that at our level already puts us deep into the 1% overall.

I have managed people in your situation and, honestly, nothing makes me happier than being able to match the incoming offer because the internal system makes it impossible for me to do the right thing.