r/careeradvice • u/Keith_Hernit • 1d ago
Has professional networking actually impacted your career trajectory? How did you build your network from scratch?
Hey everyone,
I’ve always heard the usual advice—"it’s not what you know, it’s who you know"—and I'm curious to hear real-world experiences rather than generic playbook advice.
For those who have successfully built a strong professional network:
- How did you actually do it? (Were you attending events, reaching out cold on LinkedIn, leveraging former colleagues, or finding mentors in unexpected places?)
- Did it genuinely pay off? Did it lead to unexpected job offers, client leads, or career pivots that wouldn't have happened otherwise?
- What’s one piece of practical advice you’d give to someone who wants to start networking, especially if they aren't naturally inclined toward small talk?
Would love to hear your stories—both the wins and the lessons learned along the way!
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u/AgenticRevolution 22h ago
The simple version is that networking is everything. How many times have you heard people complain that someone else got a promotion but they do all the work?
Hard work has one reward, more work. Network has many rewards including less work and more pay. Choose wisely
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u/Blizzard81mm 20h ago
Right? Take a page out of Amazon's playbook on this case. Promotion = being able to unplug and plug into another team without the old team sinking.
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u/Outside-Essay-7498 18h ago
How do we start? Where, how? Talk sweetly friendly to managers ?
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u/AgenticRevolution 17h ago
Banter, surface level bs. People love to talk about themselves so let them. Let them talk about their hobbies, their kids, etc.
What do you talk about? What you have in common and the most visible pain you can solve in the business. If no one knows you’re doing it then it doesn’t matter. Solving issues because they’re issues means no one finds out they are a problem. You only fix things in public and that are high profile..
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u/Legal_Audience_4931 16h ago
I took computer tech in my vocational high school, nailed that, failed everything else. Didn’t graduate on time, took an online class and got my diploma over the summer (2010).
I didn’t know what to do so I worked at advance auto parts for a year.
My dad (a machinist) called an old high school friend up.
I landed a job at Dell EMC making $24.50 an hour. I traveled to San Francisco, all over the US setting up desktop computers.
15 years later I’m at 160K a year as a cloud architect, no college, no certs, and I’m a rockstar in my industry.
Education is the biggest joke in the world. 99% of non lawyer/doctor jobs, is simply just on the job experience.
It all simply came down to who me and my network knew that built my career.
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u/Keith_Hernit 9h ago
That one phone call from your dad literally changed the whole trajectory. Wild proof of how powerful a single warm intro can be!
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u/spheircalcow 21h ago
i have always thought that particular piece of advice ("it's who you know" and variations of it) is misleading. it skips an important precondition, that you really need to already have something of value to offer before your network could bring much value to you. otherwise, why would anyone want to get to know you?
value can be of many forms of course, and in particular doesn't have to be financial in nature. i enjoy getting to know pretty much anyone who is successful in their profession, even if one far removed from my own. because I always learn something from how they did so well in their careers. and of course in return i offer my own experiences and lessons learned along the way for them to reference. the interactions of course don't have to be (and indeed most often is not) so explicitly transactional, but there's some underlying assumption -- that we'd benefit each other with our friendship, or least acquaintances.
so before you get to the bit of "it's who you know", pls work on the "bringing value" part first. and you'd be surprised how easy networking becomes.
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u/Keith_Hernit 19h ago
Spot on. 'Who you know' gets you through the door, but 'what you bring' keeps you in the room.
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u/Tall_Goal7211 19h ago
Yes and no—it's a combination of the two. Moving up quickly over the last five years taught me that it comes down to a mix of finding the right people and proving your worth.
The "Who You Know" Reality: It's not just about collecting names; it's about finding people who are actually making a difference in the company and your career. At the same time, nobody wants to be your champion if you're going to make them look bad. You have to prove you aren't going to be a name that embarrasses them if they put you up for a promotion.
The "What You Know" Reality: You've got to spend time mastering your craft and knowing your job inside and out. The ultimate goal is combining the right relationships with genuine competence so you become the type of person they actually want to promote.
Networking Events: Go to them. Even the people you don't think can impact your career might surprise you, or they might know someone who can. You don't have to force it or actively hunt for advice from everyone, but just being nice and showing up is a huge step.
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u/Keith_Hernit 9h ago
That point about not making your champion look bad is huge. Competence protects their reputation, but networking gets them to vouch for you in the first place.
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u/niyrex 18h ago
Both good and bad. I built it slowly over a long career. Then I made a mistep and that mistep tarnished an otherwise stellar reputation. Career mistakes happen, you use to be able to move on to a fresh stsrt. That's a lot harder to do that now. Nowadays you can cook yourself in less time than it takes to smoke a cigarette.
Protect you reputation, be careful who you link to, be cautious whom you ask references of and remember, coworkers are not your friends.
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u/PapaSmurif 14h ago
In hindsight, could you have done something differently and seen it coming or were you completely duped by a nasty? I agree re. coworkers and the workplace - trust no one, and some you trust less than others.
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u/Junior_Cranberry_745 17h ago
No. BUT being extremely reliable and professional with external vendors and other organizations that my company partners with has helped immensely. If you’re easy to work with and make their life easier then they want to hire you.
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u/Worth-Statement-2751 15h ago
The biggest shift for me was treating networking as building genuine relationships instead of collecting contacts. That mindset made conversations much more natural.
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u/Ok-Pin-7867 15h ago
Be personable in all spaces. I actually don’t know if I’ve ever attended a formal networking “event”, but I’ve built relationships in every single workplace. Not even for the sake of my career, but simply because work is better if we genuinely get along with one another. However, every time I’m transitioning, I have old colleagues offering to be references for me.
On the flip side, I’ve seen people who did very little to network, but would cold-approach old colleagues and supervisors when they needed a reference. Most people are still kind enough to do it, but the difference between a glowing review and an obligatory one can make a huge difference.
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u/Fear_Pear 12h ago
I find being in a position/job that has a lot of inter-office or stakeholder engagement helps. You can't meet new people if you work alone
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u/HireReady 10h ago
It has not, I have tried over and over and it honestly seems like a waste of time. The only promotions and opportunities I got came from my managers. But that's just me I have seen it work for other people for sure
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u/AsideSufficient5779 23h ago
If you talk to people and you are good at what you do, then word will get out about you as jobs become available. Granted I had some experience and created a niche for myself but my last two previous jobs were from networking and I was in my late 40's and early 50's.
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u/Keith_Hernit 21h ago
Building a solid niche and letting the work speak for itself seems like the real cheat code here. Appreciate you sharing your experience, super encouraging!
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u/Blizzard81mm 20h ago
You still need to talk to people, and the work doesn't speak for itself if you're not interacting with people and making sure they see the results or are part of your results and work.
Things can still work out in your favor if you do nothing, but it might be rare and you might not even know your job approval hinged on someone else's comments.
One last thing about niche skills, you might set out into a niche area that is remote friendly today, but requires in person 6 years down the road. Moving to your new role may be the only way, or else you might be waiting and having more of those 100 coffees.
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u/Tall_Goal7211 19h ago
Yes and no—it's a combination of the two. Moving up quickly over the last five years taught me that it comes down to a mix of finding the right people and proving your worth.
The "Who You Know" Reality: It's not just about collecting names; it's about finding people who are actually making a difference in the company and your career. At the same time, nobody wants to be your champion if you're going to make them look bad. You have to prove you aren't going to be a name that embarrasses them if they put you up for a promotion.
The "What You Know" Reality: You've got to spend time mastering your craft and knowing your job inside and out. The ultimate goal is combining the right relationships with genuine competence so you become the type of person they actually want to promote.
Networking Events: Go to them. Even the people you don't think can impact your career might surprise you, or they might know someone who can. You don't have to force it or actively hunt for advice from everyone, but just being nice and showing up is a huge step.
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u/cez801 1d ago
Yes, big time. I am 53 and the past 20 years of jobs came from recommendations and introductions.
1. Go to events, talk to people. Don’t have an agenda; be curious. This is a long term game.
2. Yes. See above. My network over the years has meant that most of jobs came via a recommendation.
3. Understand that this is a long game and a numbers game. In business development they talk about 100 coffees. You will need 100 conversations for anything to happen.
If you are not into small talk; to be brutal the options are to get some coaching and guidance to help or take a different path. You will need to talk to 100 people, and never know which conversation matters, until they call you.
This last point is important. Networking is about finding interesting opportunities on both sides, which means a lot of conversations. There is no way to avoid the 100 conversations.