I was sure networking events were a scam until I landed a job at one last month

For years I avoided those mixers and meetups. Thought they were just people handing out business cards and fake smiles. But I went to one at a local coffee shop in Denver because my buddy dragged me there. Random guy I talked to for 5 minutes about hiking ended up being a hiring manager at a small tech firm. He called me the next week and I got the gig. Has anyone else gotten a real lead from a random chat at one of these things?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_simon23d ago

lol I mean congrats on the job but I still think networking events are mostly a waste of time. You got lucky with that one random guy who happened to be a hiring manager, but for every story like yours there are like 50 people just standing around awkwardly sipping bad coffee. I've been to a few of those things and it's just people trying to sell you stuff or talk about themselves nonstop. Your buddy dragging you was probably the real hero here, not the event itself. Plus the whole "5 minute chat about hiking" thing sounds like a total crapshoot, not a reliable strategy.

murray.jana23d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back a little here! You're totally right that a lot of networking events are awkward and full of people just selling stuff, but I think you're selling the "random crapshoot" part short. Having a specific goal like @the_diana mentioned (learning one thing) changes the whole game, because then you're not just hoping for luck - you're actually steering conversations. The hiking chat wasn't really random, it was just him being himself and me asking real questions instead of my usual "so what do you do?" script. I've been to events where I stood around sipping bad coffee for two hours and got nothing, but I've also walked away with a solid lead just by asking someone what they actually enjoy about their work. It's not reliable in a "follow these steps and get a job" way, but it's less of a crapshoot than you might think if you treat it like a chance to be curious instead of a sales pitch.

the_diana23d ago

This is one of those things where I think it depends a lot on your personality lol. Small talk at those events always felt super forced to me too, like everyone is just waiting for their turn to talk. What ended up working for me was going with a specific goal, like trying to learn one new thing about an industry I was curious about. That way I had a reason to ask questions instead of just standing there awkwardly. It takes some pressure off and makes it feel less like a sales pitch and more like a real conversation.