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Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

nytimes.com

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Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#111

Post by davidgerard »

jventura wrote: post #100
davidgerard wrote: post #72

I've just written a book. (It's about social implications of a technology.) Pretty much all the sales I'm making are networking, one way or another. It's a good book! People who read it love it! But it's self-published, and I haven't worked out how the heck to get people to write about it, and so my sales are all word of mouth from happy readers. It's just become a college textbook (!!) so I'm doing at least somethin…

What's the name of your book?

I was trying not to be spammy :-) It's in my profile.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#112

Post by likelynew »

busterarm wrote: post #20
a-saleh wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that PHD is not a waste of time only if you plan to stay in academia. If writing papers and chasing grants is your jam, go for it. If you are looking for one more thing for your CV, don't bother with phd.

Degree-less person here and vehemently disagree. Maybe across the field in general, but some of the most interesting areas of work have Ph.Ds and/or significant levels of domain experience as gatekeepers.

No one is denying that. People are talking about return on investment for an average Ph.D. vs masters or things like that.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#113

Post by zebraflask »

"Networking makes us feel dirty — to the point that one study found that people rate soap and toothpaste 19 percent more positively after imagining themselves angling to make professional contacts at a cocktail party."

Really? If you're around unpleasant people, sure, but I at least have typically enjoyed meeting new people in the industry. "Networking" is just another word for "having a conversation."

The implication of this piece is unclear to me. Most people, by definition, are average and aren't going to suddenly pop out masterpiece whatevers that bring them fame and fortune. You'd think a little networking wouldn't hurt. It's better than staying at home and staring at the TV, right?

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#114

Post by [deleted] »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #39

Shotgun networking, where you go to meetups just to get as much facetime and intro's as possible but with no real connection to people, is overrated. But thoughtfully targeted networking where you're able to identify a small number of people who have something of unique value to you, and then bring something of similar value to them, resulting in a potential mutually high-value collaboration, is not overrated.

[deleted]

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#115

Post by olala69 »

anotherbrownguy wrote: post #26

The article gives example of Justin Bieber and Adele. For those two examples, there are hundreds who got where they are just because they knew someone important. Miley Cyrus, Jaden Smith, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton. Actors/singers make very poor examples for this given that most of them mostly get to where they are by networking more than anything else. Lets say there was an absolute mas…

Only reason Justin Bieber made it big is because he hung out with Usher.
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