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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

#101

Post by withdavidli »

Tldr, networking is not overrated, just poorly implemented by many.

Poor choice of title for a good article. If you enjoyed this article and like to learn to implement value added techniques I suggest Ramit Sethi's blog iwillteachyoutoberich, not the scam it sounds like lol.

Building a network is important to increase opportunities. It's much easier to be on the receiving end of people wanting to connect with you once people know you can provide value/you have accomplished something they are interested in.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#102

Post by peter_retief »

phren0logy wrote: post #14
peter_retief wrote: post #10

Correct, avoid people they will suck your time and energy. Be very selfish with your time, you will never get a nano-second back

Um. I guess it depends on what you are optimizing for?

In my case I need time for my family, time for my friends, time for my work as a developer, time for research, time to complete work to get paid. I get requests for work that I have to turn people away so you are correct it isn't what I am optimising for, Networking is very far down the list ;)

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#103

Post by spiderjerusalem »

warcher wrote: post #89
jimbokun wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woz isn't dumb, just had different priorities in life. If you sum up the total happiness over the course of Jobs and Woz lives, Woz might come out ahead.

An excellent point. Who's the smart one at the end of the day? Woz seems to have all the money he needs and all the fame I think he can stand. There's a lot to be said for quitting while you're ahead.

Fame does not bode well for some archetypes. Some of us are really better off actively avoiding the spotlight.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#104

Post by a-saleh »

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.

Like? I have always thought that master degree with some domain experience trumps PhD.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#105

Post by a-saleh »

VygmraMGVl wrote: post #93
binarysolo wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even better: get into the PhD program and then drop out. You have all the signalling of being selected in a fancy PhD, but it also shows that you're practical and interested in work and industry. Anec-data: me and several other PhD folks who all dropped out of CS/Stats/ML and got plenty of offers for jobs and funding. :)

How do you properly signal that you dropped out of a PhD program to distinguish yourself from someone with a Masters?

Maybe having few good papers/conference talks?

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#106

Post by pathpari »

This is a very interesting piece and true as well but with a catch.

The article seems to advising students not to Network and just focus on building a product or a solution that is worthy of attention. But if you read it carefully, it actually not saying so. The title itself says that Networking is overrated, it doesn't say it's useless.

To build a strong Network a combination of three things are needed:

#1: Character - How you treat others #2: Competence - How good you are at something #3: Consistency - How are you able to stay connect with your network

This article is about the second element of competence, it not reducing the value of other two, rather is advising students not to reduce the value of competence.

All three have equal weight and if students start to rely just on networking, they may struggle. That is a fair point.

Good piece.

Paritosh Pathak Strategic Networking Coach

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#107

Post by ahartmetz »

antisthenes wrote: post #43
fnbr wrote: post #21

The thing about networking is that good networking is extremely important, but that's not what "Networking" is. In every job I have, I try to grab lunch with people everyday so that I can talk to them and get to know them. I also try to regularly meet new people in my field and get to know them. I've found that to be extremely valuable. However, I've found going to networking events to be an extreme waste of time. Th…

So how does one break out of this catch-22? How do you become a successful professional if you're never given the opportunity to earn trust where it is also visible enough to develop a strong network?

Participate in a large Free Software project that interests you. You will meet a lot of people who work in your area and they will know what you can do.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#108

Post by ropman76 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #61
nerdponx wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most people, it's typically difficult to accomplish great things without mentorship and support. Which, in turn, typically require a network of some kind, whether it be family, teachers and classmates, or professional contacts.

I completely agree with this statement: > it's typically difficult to accomplish great things > without mentorship and support. And this is how I have seen it play out as I've mentored folks. When someone talks with others about the great things they are trying to accomplish (as opposed to people talk about great things they say they will accomplish) and listens for useful feedback, they not only develop a network of…

Building on that even, the most fun I have had at "networking" was listening to other developers talk about some of the problems they are working to solve in their jobs/areas of interest. Half the events I enjoy going to are partially motivated by "I wonder if so and so found away to fix x issue"

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#109

Post by samnwa »

kaishiro wrote: post #87
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…

I was about to write a very similar comment to yours. My father is a remarkably talented guitarist. I used to think he was "good" as a kid, but it wasn't until I was older that I realized just how "good" he actually was. I vividly remember being home from college over the holidays one year, listening to some Rory Gallagher ('74 Irish Tour), and he just casually started following along with Rory's lead in Tatoo'd Lady…

Right, the point is, your dad is interchangeable with most of the 'successful' people in music. Unfortunately, this is always true for subjective creative endeavors.

Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated

#110

Post by inerg »

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?

Looks like if you look at his profile it's linked there. I've put it below for simplicity.

Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073CPP581/

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