Anonymous wrote:It seems like everybody who posts asking for advice on how to get a job is advised to network, network, network. I have been on the hiring committee for my office for years, and I can't recall a situation where networking helped somebody get a job. People are always asking us to look at their neighbor or their cousin or whoever, but we just interview and hire the most qualified candidates. In the same vein, I am constantly getting calls from acquaintances about what I can do to help them get a job in my office, but if I don't know their work (and how would I unless it's a former colleague?), I'm not going to vouch for them. Do people really get jobs through people they met at some conference or cocktail party?
Networking pull me from my previous jobs because of better opportunities - this is when I wasn't looking but was approached. However, when I was actively looking for a job, networking did not help at all. So out of the 12 jobs or so, 2-3 were through networking.