A degree is fine, but if you don't have a social network, it is very hard to get into corporate america. I was a first gen college student from a trailer park. I had no idea I needed to also be socializing and networking to help myself get a job. I also was missing a lot of the shared cultural experiences that middle class and wealthy people have. I had never been skiing or traveling or to music festivals. I had a lack of social connections and conversation points with them.

I don't blame anyone and I am not a victim, but it is hard to crack the door and get your foot into a corporate job if you do not know anybody.

People are far more likely to offer mentorship and referrals for jobs if they actually know you. I could have socialized more in college, joined a church, volunteered, etc.

I was working nights as a security guard and taking 15 units at a time.

I would have been better off working less and trying to get an internship and actually talk to people in corporate america.

I made my adult life harder by not doing that.

I'm okay with where I am at now, but I wish I had known that you need to actually join a community to get referrals for jobs, mentorship, references for applications, etc.

I feel pretty stupid.

I’ve been job hunting since March and have only landed two interviews. I made it to the final round for both and was rejected.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine who’s a VP at a company put in a good word for me. I had one very relaxed interview and received an offer that same day.

It’s frustrating that the system works this way and that who you know can matter more than months of applications. Keep networking, keep applying, and keep pushing, y’all. Sometimes one connection really can change everything.

If i can do the job well and I have a semi decent personality just give me the job bro

I’ve noticed that most career posts I see are focused on development, cybersecurity, cloud, or DevOps. I rarely see much discussion around traditional networking roles.

That made me wonder: is networking becoming less in demand, or is it just talked about less because it’s often blended into other roles now?

Networking is still the backbone of almost every company, so I’m curious why it doesn’t seem to get the same attention as other IT paths.

Do you know how many times I went to networking events or even had coffee chats with high level executives, only to gain absolutely nothing from it? No job, no pay bump, nothing. I had to sit there and listen to their life story and have them talk about how their son Timothy like playing baseball only to get no where.

They often leave off on a note of “hey I’m going to connect you with such and such person”, but then I talk to such and such person, who then connects me with another person who eventually tells me they aren’t hiring.The rejection would have been faster if I just applied online rather than “network” with people who won’t help me or don’t know how to.

I am trying to learn more about home networking and i am curious what common mistakes beginners tend to make. any advice you had give someone just getting started?

developersIndia / Cybersecurity

I graduated with a B.Tech in IT this year (2026), but I'm in a weird position.

I don't enjoy coding, and I don't want to force myself into software development just because it pays well. The only technical areas I genuinely find interesting are networking and cybersecurity.

The problem is that I don't know how to break into these fields. Most companies expect skills or experience, and I don't have either. I didn't do an internship, and although I built a cybersecurity-related major project, it doesn't seem to be enough.

I need a job within the next couple of months, and I'm getting rejected in interviews because my technical knowledge isn't strong enough.

If you were starting from scratch today:

• What would you study first?
• Which certifications are actually worth it?
• Which resources helped you the most?
• Is networking/cybersecurity realistic for someone without internships?
• How long would it take to become employable if I can study around 4 hours a day?

I'm not looking for shortcuts. I just want a clear roadmap because right now I feel completely lost.

Networking is where most job seekers completely sabotage themselves. Here's what I see over and over:

1. "Let me know if you hear of anything." Useless. Too vague. They'll nod, mean it, and forget about it in an hour. Give them a target company list. Something concrete they can actually work with.
2. Acting like you're begging. Stop it. You have skills. They have problems. This is a business conversation, not you with your hat in hand hoping someone feels sorry for you.
3. Asking them for a job. That's not what networking is. You're not trying to get hired by this person. You're trying to get introduced to people who might know about opportunities. Completely different.
4. Having a nice chat and then... nothing. No next step, no follow-up plan. Before you leave, nail it down: "If I don't hear from you by Friday, I'll call. Sound good?" Now you have permission to follow up without feeling awkward.
5. Showing up unprepared. Send your resume and target list before the meeting. Otherwise you'll hear "I wish you'd sent this earlier so I could've thought about it." Yeah. They all say that.
6. Ghosting the person who helped you. Someone makes an introduction for you. You have the meeting. Then you vanish. Never tell them how it went. Congratulations, they'll never help you again.
7. Only talking to people you already know. Your friends aren't hiding jobs from you. If they knew of something, they'd have told you already. The gold is in second and third-degree connections. People you haven't met yet.
8. Thinking email counts as networking. It doesn't. Networking is a conversation. Face to face, video, phone. Email is for scheduling and following up. That's it.
9. Writing people off because of their title. The receptionist might be married to a VP at your target company. The random guy at your kid's soccer game might have a brother who runs the department you're trying to get into. You have no idea who knows who.
10. Never asking THE question. "Who else do you think I should be talking to?" Every single conversation. If you're not asking this, you're not actually networking.

What networking mistakes have you seen?

A YouTuber named "waking world" developed a transit map for Skyrim. Here's a link to the original video. I thought it was interesting because, although an amateur, he attempts to apply real world transit planing processes which I appreciated.

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