4 ms·

Of the tips in this article, I think this one is simultaneously the most well-known and the most underrated: > Getting a job gets you a professional network, w

Of the tips in this article, I think this one is simultaneously the most well-known and the most underrated: > Getting a job gets you a professional network, which you can try to turn into a friend network. Getting a job isn't enough to start building a network. You have to do well at that job, be a good person to work with, and step out of your comfort zone to meet new people. I've seen a growing number of people learn the hard way that your behavior in the final months of a job leaves a lasting impression. One of the most motivated engineer ladder-climbers I know was very good at interviewing and getting new jobs, but he developed a habit of burning bridges on the way out: After about a year at the company he'd gradually diminish his work output and spend 80% of his day searching for new jobs, interviewing, and negotiating bigger raises at his next job hob. This worked for a while, but after 4 or 5 rounds he had built a reputation for slacking off for a few months and then leaving companies. Word traveled, and he discovered that new jobs would only hire him with longer vesting schedules and sign-on bonuses that had to be paid back if he left before 2-3 years. Eventually nobody well-connected wanted to hire him because they had heard so many stories about him underperforming and bailing at the 1-year mark, despite interviewing well and performing great in the first few months. He finally moved out of state to start over in a new network. What I'm saying is: The strongest networking you do might not feel like networking. It's years of accumulated reputation. Word travels and people check references. Reference checking felt like it was paused for a few years when everyone was hiring as fast as possible, but now I'm getting reference check calls/texts/DMs more than ever before. I've had mixed results with networking-focused activities. I've met some good people at networking events, but you have to actively filter out the loud professional networkers and seek out the other people like yourself. The best contacts are not always the loudest, most outgoing, most extroverted people at these events. In fact, some of those people are sharks who are only interested in networking as far as they can use you for leverage, clout, or your connections. Tread lightly.

somesortofthing 3y ago
> Word traveled, and he discovered that new jobs would only hire him with longer vesting schedules and sign-on bonuses that had to be paid back if he left before 2-3 years. I've occasionally heard anecdotes like this but I have a hard time imagining how this kind of thing ever happens outside of very small population centers with less than ten tech employers. Unless he's some kind of executive where huge amounts of resources are devoted specifically to vetting and networking is the interview process, what incentive is there for people in charge of hiring to share such granular info with one another? Is everyone in charge of hiring at major tech companies just in a big whatsapp group exchanging dirt on employees they didn't like?
- oofnik 3y ago
  > Is everyone in charge of hiring at major tech companies just in a big whatsapp group exchanging dirt on employees they didn't like? Yes. Source: family member who works in HR
  - tsunamifury 3y ago
    How, in FANG alone there are THOUSANDS of HR members that rotate in and out like a revolving door. They barely know eachother let alone any of the workers save a few executives they worked for. Don't believe this practically
    - blackbear_ 3y ago
      You took the statement too literally. Of course there is not a single whatsapp group, but hundreds of them. People working in HR have lots of friends who also work in HR, meet HR friends of their HR friends, they talk with each other, and so on.
- jedberg 3y ago
  There is a lot of backchannel reference checks. If you're about to make an offer to someone and you're in HR, there's a really good chance that you have a friend in HR at their previous company. Or if you're a hiring manager there is a good chance you have a friend who is a manager. You send them a quick note for a backchannel reference check. It happens all the time.
  - sacnoradhq 3y ago
    True. It's a small world, and smaller in some industries.
  - PragmaticPulp 3y ago
    Or HR/hiring managers spend a few minutes on LinkedIn looking for employees who have 1st or 2nd order connections to the candidate. If someone has been working in an industry for 5-10 years it's not hard to find someone who knows someone who worked with them.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
>You have to do well at that job, be a good person to work with, and step out of your comfort zone to meet new people. I argue you need to do these things just to maintain a job. Especially once you're no longer a junior. >I've had mixed results with networking-focused activities. I've met some good people at networking events, but you have to actively filter out the loud professional networkers and seek out the other people like yourself. The best contacts are not always the loudest, most outgoing, most extroverted people at these events. like most of life, unfortunately. meeting people you mesh with in general is hard.
sacnoradhq 3y ago
This is true: A job doesn't necessarily create a professional network OR a friend network. The vast majority of people I worked with at my previous job were assholes and generally awful and boring people. The cool and successful people already left. Another issue is ambitious coworkers may keep others at a distance to prioritize their economic interests ahead of personal ones. There are pockets of good people everywhere but there's no magic recipe to find 100% concentration of them. One just has to put out good energy and be open.
moneywoes 3y ago
> Eventually nobody well-connected wanted to hire him because they had heard so many stories about him underperforming and bailing at the 1-year mark, despite interviewing well and performing great in the first few months How does word get out like that?

somesortofthing 3y ago

> Word traveled, and he discovered that new jobs would only hire him with longer vesting schedules and sign-on bonuses that had to be paid back if he left before 2-3 years. I've occasionally heard anecdotes like this but I have a hard time imagining how this kind of thing ever happens outside of very small population centers with less than ten tech employers. Unless he's some kind of executive where huge amounts of resources are devoted specifically to vetting and networking is the interview process, what incentive is there for people in charge of hiring to share such granular info with one another? Is everyone in charge of hiring at major tech companies just in a big whatsapp group exchanging dirt on employees they didn't like?

oofnik 3y ago
> Is everyone in charge of hiring at major tech companies just in a big whatsapp group exchanging dirt on employees they didn't like? Yes. Source: family member who works in HR
- tsunamifury 3y ago
  How, in FANG alone there are THOUSANDS of HR members that rotate in and out like a revolving door. They barely know eachother let alone any of the workers save a few executives they worked for. Don't believe this practically
  - blackbear_ 3y ago
    You took the statement too literally. Of course there is not a single whatsapp group, but hundreds of them. People working in HR have lots of friends who also work in HR, meet HR friends of their HR friends, they talk with each other, and so on.
jedberg 3y ago
There is a lot of backchannel reference checks. If you're about to make an offer to someone and you're in HR, there's a really good chance that you have a friend in HR at their previous company. Or if you're a hiring manager there is a good chance you have a friend who is a manager. You send them a quick note for a backchannel reference check. It happens all the time.
- sacnoradhq 3y ago
  True. It's a small world, and smaller in some industries.
- PragmaticPulp 3y ago
  Or HR/hiring managers spend a few minutes on LinkedIn looking for employees who have 1st or 2nd order connections to the candidate. If someone has been working in an industry for 5-10 years it's not hard to find someone who knows someone who worked with them.

johnnyanmac 3y ago

>You have to do well at that job, be a good person to work with, and step out of your comfort zone to meet new people. I argue you need to do these things just to maintain a job. Especially once you're no longer a junior. >I've had mixed results with networking-focused activities. I've met some good people at networking events, but you have to actively filter out the loud professional networkers and seek out the other people like yourself. The best contacts are not always the loudest, most outgoing, most extroverted people at these events. like most of life, unfortunately. meeting people you mesh with in general is hard.

sacnoradhq 3y ago

This is true: A job doesn't necessarily create a professional network OR a friend network. The vast majority of people I worked with at my previous job were assholes and generally awful and boring people. The cool and successful people already left. Another issue is ambitious coworkers may keep others at a distance to prioritize their economic interests ahead of personal ones. There are pockets of good people everywhere but there's no magic recipe to find 100% concentration of them. One just has to put out good energy and be open.

moneywoes 3y ago

> Eventually nobody well-connected wanted to hire him because they had heard so many stories about him underperforming and bailing at the 1-year mark, despite interviewing well and performing great in the first few months How does word get out like that?