[wonderwonder]

Respectfully I have never gotten an interview let alone a job via a connection in my life. I maintain zero contact with previous coworkers.

Also I don't understand why you said I must have connections and then a sentence later say connections mean nothing.

You are right though, it has been 16 months since I interviewed so things may be different.

[bluesroo]

I mean, the timeframe was also important there. Yes, that 16 months makes a huge difference right now. That's the exact time that I basically walked through my interviews to 6 offers.

RE Connections: I meant they only matter if they are high up enough to literally hand you a position. Anything lower than that (i.e. an IC referral) was completely useless in 7 different companies.

[scruple]

Conversely, 4 of my 5 employers in the last ~20 years in this industry have been through my network. I'm still I interviewing, but the process has been relatively painless for me otherwise, especially in the face of anecdotes like the GP and the OP.