I think one area people miss out on is local meetups in a tech area you know and want to work with. Networking with those people you’ll discover which companies are good/bad/etc and then also know someone there.
The local, in-person meetup scene was an absolute treasure! It didn't really recover after COVID; I'm still trying to find where those networking opportunities moved to.
I did _one_ virtual meetup. After the presentation we were paired into small breakout rooms. Two of the four guys in my room just gave a quick summary of their background and said they were looking for work -- they had nothing else to say.
(a) it ruined the networking time for everyone else and (b) if I had an opening, I'd be less likely to interview them than before.
i haven't been in this particular situation, but people who don't know what to say are all to common. i am not the most sociable guy myself, but i learned to get people talking by asking lots of question, searching for common interests, or simply anything interesting about them. it is a lot of work though, and after such conversations i tend to be exhausted. the irony is that if they didn't want to talk, but get me talking instead, all they would need is to ask a few open questions and then i'd be able to fill the space.
Now that you mention it, I've had my eye on a handful of meetups in my area. I've never gone, however, as I'm really not a very social person and would probably end up leaning against the wall, giving off antisocial vibes.
But perhaps I should give this a shot, just to put myself out there and see what happens.