"Quiet Contemplation for Extroverts: A How-To Guide to Sitting the Fuck Still For an Hour"
I'm fine as I am as an introvert, thank you very much. Maybe we're not the only ones who need to be more accommodating of the world?
I'm fine as I am as an introvert, thank you very much. Maybe we're not the only ones who need to be more accommodating of the world?
My previous manager couldn't stay in his seat for more than two hours at a time without coming over and talking to me—sometimes about work, but often about politics or whatever else was on his mind. He could have used a training session along the lines of what OP proposes.
With that being said, it obviously has value since nepotism won't be going away anytime soon.
What OP likely isn't aware of is the works published over the past 30+ years for managers/owners on how to relate to their probably-introverted programmer employees.
It’s nice to imagine that all information about the job market would be available online for convenient index and search, but that’s just not the case. When it comes to understanding the culture in a company, theres no substitute for talking to someone on the inside. Similarly when you are a hiring manager, not every great candidate is going to apply or even have a LinkedIn profile.
Now, I tend to agree that most things explicitly labeled “networking” feel tiresome and a bit forced, but there’s nothing about meeting people that means bypassing objective evaluation for hiring.
Some do whiteboard interviews, but I don't really get those because they're not representative of the job you will be expected to do - unless it's for a teaching position.
I can't speak for the person you're replying to, but most people I see who object to whiteboard interviews are upper-level developers that haven't needed to know any of the common whiteboard challenges off the top of their head-- like coding an efficient merge sort in C with proper memory management-- because it's rarely a useful skill in day-to-day work unless you're working with that stuff directly. The people who know that stuff are usually recent grads and people who grind leetcode-- all people who've worked to memorize whiteboard type trivia rather than honing more real-world-applicable coding skills.
Just like some developers have to put in more effort than others when encountering complex DS&A and other 'hard' skills, some have to put in extra effort with the 'soft' skills-- but both are important parts of a complete professional skill set, and directly contribute to your overall merit. People understand that useful employees can be quiet and many even tolerate having to work a bit to get information out of them at meetings/code reviews/etc. But interacting with coworkers is part of our jobs, and if we always come across as aloof/arrogant/insecure/impatient/put-upon/avoidant/imperious or any other irritating way when interacting with coworkers, we're bad at that part of our jobs.
Edit: To hammer the point home, a couple I'm friends with are IG/TikTok lifestyle influencers. They're both affable and engaging on-camera and in public social engagements, and incredibly naturally attractive. One has even appeared on national television. They have social skills far beyond what most particularly social people have. In their personal lives, they are still quite lovely, but are two of the most reserved, quiet, withdrawn, introverted, cerebral people I've ever encountered. They've cultivated fantastic social skills that they utilize as a professional tool even though it's anathema to their natural tendencies and how they comfortably live their off-camera lives.
> Most software development jobs are already like that though
A tiny fraction of software engineers have jobs where they don't need to interact with anyone. Beyond a certain level of seniority, you are expected to lead or influence teams, mentor junior colleagues or work with cross-functional teams like product or sales. Even when you are junior, you need to work with rest of the senior members to learn from them and earn their trust.
All of that needs social skills.
It may not be “fair”, but if we want to succeed in what is arguably the extroverts world, we unfortunately need to play the game too (at least to an extent) or we may find ourselves overlooked.
Most jobs benefit from having good people skills, communication skills, and being proactive. If you hit it off with someone at a networking event, they've more or less already checked off those boxes.