You know how the saying goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Job prep events emphasize the power of networking because “X jobs are never even publicly posted,” or “Y% percent of people got their job due to someone they knew.”
Well, from my experience and those of others I know, cold applications — with not even a referral — still work. Looking back, I’ve gotten one full-time job (my present one!), one fellowship, and two internships from cold applying.
I’m not saying networking is pointless or doesn’t work. The flip side is that I’ve also gotten one side gig, one fellowship, and two internships from reaching out to, or already knowing, people.
The point is to be prepared by building your network in advance, while also being optimistic that you can find something without having many or great connections.
While I was in my computational chemistry internship and during grad school, I expanded my network through colleagues and people I met at conferences. When I decided to change gears to patent law, I networked with people in a related graduate fellowship, joined a local intellectual property law association, and also met people through patent law sessions at chemistry conferences.
It was around this time last year that I reached out to a promising connection for a job referral. He was a partner at a local law firm, and we had a great chat during a lunch-and-learn event. He told me to reach out to him closer to my defense. But this also coincided with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, and any leads there fizzled out.
I’m very glad to be where I am now, in a position that I applied for without knowing a single person in the company. My network helped shape the path that I was/am on but didn’t get me here directly. By no means do you need an expansive and well-positioned network to make the next move of your career.