I’m tired of hearing this. I tried to network because I don’t know anyone and it seems no one wants to know who I am. I am nearing graduation and I spent the entire summer building a portfolio and building a bunch of small web applications. I send it to employers and they say I have a good portfolio but that is all rubbish. I can’t get a simple internship.
I keep hearing networking works well. It works well if you already know people. The internet is one giant popularity contest. I try to speak to people online that work in the companies or positions I am aiming and I get no response. I tried Linkedin (almost no one responds there), now I am trying twitter and the popularity contest is even worse. I get no response from them and yet I see them put up more “I’m awesome” nonsense. I see the plethora of great companies they work for. And I am the peasant that wants to get a simple hello. I don’t know what to even say to them. Now I am looking at their nonsense. This is why I hate social media but no… a person with no online presence in the tech world is suspicious or not worthy of a job. Excuse my language but that is bullshit.
How do I network effectively network online without doing that “i’ll buy you coffee” kiss ass nonsense? I am trying to exist. Something that is introvert friendly. Don’t mention the school career center. All they’ll do is give me a generic paper handout that I can find online.
I just want to reply to let you know that many of us also struggle with this, and have yet to figure out how to combat this God-forsaken issue.
I also tried your approach (because it was advised to me) to actually call companies. 100% of the time, they respond as if they’re clueless and something like “YTF are you calling wasting my time”.
All I know is don’t kiss a$$ because they’ll know your motive, and will view you as a user.
Also, have you tried to make a Github account and post your code there? I have one, and I haven’t found employment that way, but that’s one of those unspoken requirements nowadays.
Do you have a personal website that can showcase your design and/or web development skills? I don’t even have one, which I probably should start.
I’m almost crying trying to respond to your post because I feel its unnecessary (but definitely real) pains, importance and urgency. I wish I have a sure-fire, silver bullet answer for you. I wish you and all of us struggling with this the best.
I created a website, a github with a lot of repositories, and a linkedin account that update if anything new comes up and still nothing. What is irritating to hear is that “developers are in high demand” jazz that only refers to the senior developers. I keep asking if junior developers jobs are hard to find then how the did the senior developers get to their position? They magically got into the company with a senior title? freelance for ten years? become friends with all the popular developers? It’s all nonsense and I never get the answer to that question and I don’t think there will ever be an answer.
Thank you for that link. Unfortunately, the only meetups in my area are about entrepreneurship and startups, not really focusing on web development and programming.
However, at least knowledge that there are meetups I’m interested in (even if it requires a flight or a very long drive) is hope enough to get us motivated to learn more (at least for me).
I do web development at least the front end. I’ve been doing a lot of design but it seems doing design is the easy route. I also want to program but employers are interested in those computer science kids. I used to go to a meetup but they keep canceling. Now I don’t know what else to do. The meetups either don’t meet often or they meet at a bar. I can’t stand meetups in bars.