Calling these lotteries is actually a big misrepresentation. Lotteries are for astronomical odds. Plus you can do things to change your odds. Instead of waitin

Calling these lotteries is actually a big misrepresentation. Lotteries are for astronomical odds. Plus you can do things to change your odds. Instead of waiting to be picked, you could have been proactive and reached out to them for a job. The odds massively improve in your favor compared to a lottery in terms of winning (winning = getting a job in this case). And to belabor the obvious, no matter how cool I am with the gas station clerk, it's not going to improve my odds of winning the lottery. That leads us to part 2, which is "why do anything at all for your career when you already have skills" and it's because doing things like signalling that you give a shit alerts other folks with decision-making powers that can benefit you.