[lifeisstillgood]

I was box number three - tried to be box number two and went bankrupt, and took a job at PCWorld (UK version of BestBuy?) doing repairs. Couple of months in I had coded up a sort of automated PC fix program - turned 2 hours into 5 minutes. There is always a way to find an entrepreneurial gap - even if I never quite exploit it to my own financial benefit

Worst day in that job when I was trying to crawl out of bankruptcy was meeting a few of my ex-colleagues while wearing the crappy purple uniform. I was putting food on the table and they looked like I was a joke.

I still put food on the table, the job market always wants people who can just code. Networking is hard and requires longitudinal effort. But the jackpot remains elusive.

Keep trying

[bluedino]

>> and took a job at PCWorld (UK version of BestBuy?) doing repairs

My first non-restaurant job (starting in high school) was Best Buy. Before they had the Geek Squad, they just had a generic tech area. You could get your VCR cleaned and your PC upgraded in the same spot.

Anyway, it seemed like once or twice a year someone would come in and take all the good sales people by offering them more money and fulltime hours. First it was the Gateway Country store (that didn't last long), then it was the local dial up ISP, then the regional DSL provider...

[M95D]

Any advice for those who absolutely hate networking?

[AnimalMuppet]

Be nice to the people you work with. If you can't do that, at least don't be a jerk.

Do your job. Do it well. Your coworkers will know whose code works.

When someone leaves for a new job, get a personal email. Put it in a file somewhere (not in a work computer).

That's networking. It doesn't have to be going to the bar every night with your bros from work. It can just be that people know you, know your work, and have moved on to other places.

[ghaff]

Right. I think a lot of people confuse having a network with "NETWORKING" (i.e. going to networking events, asking to have a coffee with one of the hundreds of thousands of people who went to your undergrad but you've never met, etc.). The former is useful; the latter mostly not so. Especially given that during a less-good market like we have now, a networking event is going to be filled with semi-desparate people all looking for jobs.

[ghaff]

I think they're giving the answer. You might need to do something else at least for a time--including mostly crappy service sector jobs. But, honestly, even during better times I've relied on my network and you may end up severely disadvantaged if you don't. (Note. Networking doesn't mean going to networking events. It just means keeping in touch with and reaching out to people you've worked with.)