Yes, this is what everybody I know is experiencing right now. Caveat lector: This is simply a retelling of my personal experience, YMMV. This is not advice. What has consistently worked for me: I stopped applying for jobs, and redirected all that effort into creating and publishing open source projects that demonstrate competence in the areas of work I want. And, just as importantly, I contribute to big established o…
I think people see networking as some skeevy thing, but what your describe is what actual networking looks like: 1. Contribute your time generously to a software community 2. Get to know the people and help them 3. Most people have a bias towards reciprocity, want to help you! Bonus: do this before you need a job, but while you’re employed.
I used to think that way, but now I understand it differently. Networking is about building trust or business friendships. Within the network, everyone stakes their reputation, so there is less need for verification. You wouldn't risk your reputation recommending your plumber friend if he was a bad plumber. Everyone gets to let their guard down and trust their peers.
It's funny that something so radically collectivist ends up sounding skeevy. I think it's only the case if you try to network at the last minute, to get something out of it.