[groby_b]

I still doubt the "networking" part.

I've got my first job in the states because a recruiter called me. Same for the second job. The third one was through being acquired. The fourth one, you could call networking if you call showing up for a recruiting event networking. 5th one? You guessed it, recruiter called. Sixth one? Yep. Exactly.

Before that, I worked in Germany. 1st job, applied cold. Second one, applied cold. 3rd one, applied cold. 4th one was working with a friend, so there's that. 5th one, applied cold for contract work, converted into a job. So half networked.

So, if we're generous, 2 out of 11 were networking.

As far as I'm concerned, work on the things you care about, build your skills, and when you switch jobs, make sure it propels you forward in some way. If you're a social person, by all means, enjoy meetups/meeting people because it's something that works for you. But don't force yourself to yet another meetup just because everybody says you should.

[sidlls]

I still get recruiters randomly messaging me. However they're all looking for someone to move laterally, not up. This wasn't the case when I was more junior. Much like salary I find myself wondering if there isn't a limit to finding new opportunities without networking.

[groby_b]

There might be. I don't know. I've been approached by recruiters, told them point blank "not what I'm looking for, here's what I want", and they just pointed me to those opportunities instead.

So I think part of the answer is clearly saying what you want. I don't know if that holds for positions like Director /VP at large tech companies - these are always somewhat political - but it seems to hold up to pretty much right before that.

YMMV, of course. For all I know, I accidentally have the right magic keywords in my LinkedIn or something. (I don't know. I only update it every few years, so I certainly am not paying enough attention to tell :)

[cpach]

”(...) they're all looking for someone to move laterally, not up”

That’s probably safer for them. IME many recruiters doesn’t really have enough knowledge about the role they are trying to recruit for, so it would probably be very risky for them to try to find a ”rough diamond” since they are not really able to make such a judgement call with high enough chance of succeeding.

[dabockster]

> I still get recruiters randomly messaging me.

Define "recruiter".

[sidlls]

People who recruit. I get messages from recruiters who are direct employees of the companies they recruit for, self-employed recruiters and recruiters for contracting shops. Probably a variety of others, too.

[mfjordvald]

Interestingly I'm the exact opposite, of the 4 jobs I've had all have been through network, from the very first grocery stocking job to IT and product jobs.

When I hire the first thing I do is also reach out to my personal network to see if anyone is looking for work or know anyone who is.

My wife did just manage to land a job with a cold application, though, so it's not like either way doesn't work.

[rdiddly]

That's one of the benefits of recruiters in my book - they get paid to do the networking.

[moron4hire]

No, using a recruiter is nowhere near the same thing as networking. If you think this, you don't really understand what networking is about.

[rdiddly]

Did I say it was the same thing? If you think that, you can't read. But no, go ahead and use some of your obvious social finesse and let me know how the mystery of networking and its meaning has eluded me for the 50 years I've been alive. Ya punk. And then tell me how a person who contacts, and stays in contact with, many people at many companies, and many workers, in a certain field (a.k.a. a "recruiter") isn't doing networking for you.

[bdcravens]

Most of my opportunities have come from networking, including the longest, most prosperous role.