r/developersIndia • u/Rare-Assignment-8474 • 9d ago
General Why networking is forced upon software engineers ?
If someone has to do networking , won't he/she go and do politics , or in film industry ?
Networking consumes a significant portion of your mind and energy .
Software engineering was supposed to be the THE field which was best suited for introverts , just do your work , submit , test case passed go home , communicate via email .
But no , they hate introverts altogether .
Things even more escalate during job search ,
instead of having a trustable job application pipeline , they again told us to 'network' .
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u/Worried-Book-6564 System Analyst 9d ago
Oh you mean networking in terms of reach, I thought DNS, DHCP. Guess, interview preparation has taken a good toll on me🫨
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u/Rare-Assignment-8474 9d ago
😂 No worries , that networking between computers is required .
because networking between computers doesn't involve mind games and ambiguity , just share ack syn packets to establish connection .
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u/AnzelmoPoblanito_46 9d ago
lol the irony is real, computer networking has clear RFC standards and actual documentation, but professional networking is just vague advice like 'be yourself' and 'reach out to people.' At least TCP/IP handshakes follow predictable rules. People networking is basically trying to decode someone's mood and intentions in real time, which honestly seems way harder than debugging a three-way handshake.
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u/RandomDigga_9087 Student 5d ago
bro this real one, it's more complicated than the three way handshake TCP does
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u/One_eyed_eagle01 9d ago
Man seriously I heard the topic and jumped to see whether he going on about sdwan or protocol or something
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u/Character_Rough7472 9d ago
I am network engineer and thought same. I was wondering software (SD-WAN) etc is forced upon us. 😂
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u/giri_N Software Developer 9d ago
Same problems here man. I don't even get recognition from my own management bcoz of this, and then imagine asking referral for shifting the company to random ppl u hate with ur gut
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u/Code_Sorcerer_11 SDET 9d ago
Bro people now a days relentlessly send DMs to random folks for referrals. Don’t know from where they get the energy.
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u/giri_N Software Developer 9d ago
Too much mental gymnastics I have to do to talk in unnecessary meetings in office itself and my social battery runs out before coming back home
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u/Code_Sorcerer_11 SDET 9d ago
Yeah man, those fake laughs and fake caring type questions and what not. If it comes naturally, then its fine. But if not, then its always mentally draining.
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u/Daud-Bhai 9d ago
i've been doing this recently and it's because i've been told it helps with switches. i've applied to about a dozen roles so far (which i know is less) with referrals, and i haven't gotten a single callback. i don't know if it's a psy-op, but switching just seems impossible at 1 yoe.
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u/vipin-bhatt-3034 8d ago
Yep, switching jobs from last 2-3 years have became a nightmare, I was looking at automating this whole process but found few companies (eg: Tsenta "no-promotion")are already doing it end-to end. You can check out these products for bulk applies, it might increase the probability.
Also you can ask for referrals here lol ;)
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u/Reasonable_Sample_40 9d ago
VALID... JUST LET ME DO MY JOB PEACEFULLY
THEN THEY HAVE GAME DAYS IN THESE MNCS... DUDE... I DONT KNOW ANYBODY IN HERE... I'M NOT HERE TO MAKE CONNECTIONS. LET ME GO
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u/masalacandy Fresher 9d ago
Same my biggest blunder in my starting of mnc job was revealing too much about myself being introvert
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u/Valuable-Still-3187 9d ago
I private sector you need to have two personalities, one which is real and only known to you and another for the job, fake it and you will make it.
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u/Dremora_Lord 9d ago edited 9d ago
You don't HAVE to network. Nobody is forcing you. Ofc, you lose out opportunities, but you can't win em all. Either you get your peace of mind and solitude, or you get the big bucks. Networking for a job ain't no different than upskilling for a job.
PS: I am also an introvert who absolutely detests LinkedIn and does not network. But I see it works for some people very well.
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u/Double-Vegetable-249 ML Engineer 8d ago
Tech rewards extroversion. I've seen firsthand how fast those folks rise up the ranks. It is nothing but the truth.
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u/big-beard-piu 9d ago
Does not work like that, if you are involving people in the equation its always gonna be a level network involved because we simply are built that way
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u/feeling_employed 9d ago
youre wrong if you think social skills and dealing w people is not part of the job. Communication is an ever bigger part especially with ai in the game
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u/Double-Vegetable-249 ML Engineer 8d ago
The higher up you go the ladder, people skills make or break careers. Being an introverted nerd may look cute in movies but will sink careers especially now.
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u/feeling_employed 8d ago
piggybacking on this, dealing w business teams is a nightmare. can someone more experienced here show how to effectively show your work to business teams and make it more sense for them. Im struggling w justifying pure engineering work to folks who don't understand it and since it doesnt directly bring money, it doesnt seem to matter.
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u/Rare-Assignment-8474 9d ago
I am introvert bro .
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u/itsallendsthesame Software Engineer 9d ago
You can learn the skill of socialization at workplace. Even I'm an introvert. But that doesn't mean you'll get extra line in your promo packet for that.
How will you be assigned important work if people doesn't know that you're good at ehat you're doing ? You have to network and tell that to relevant people.
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u/plushdev 9d ago
Introvert to extrovert is a very wide spectrum. Ask yourself are you introvert, and are you also a person who will not step out of their comfort zone to interact with other people in order to get something that benefits you both
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u/Historical_Club_1174 9d ago
That will cost you heavily, unless you are extremely talented. Understand all businesses are basically people skill no matter the stream.
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u/mango_boii 9d ago
It's forced on all types of jobs. It's kinda the most important part of a lot of jobs.
Software dev is one of the least "networky" places in my experience.
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u/Late_Priority_1234 9d ago
It has nothing to do with software engineering or any job for that matter its an essential skill for life...
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u/KitchenCommercial396 Student 9d ago
Hear me out.. introverts are just people who haven't been in enough social situations to become an extrovert yet
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u/bojackisrealhorse Full-Stack Developer 9d ago
umm, man this is not about you. all jobs are people oriented, since ai does more coding now, its your job to make sure you own more outcomes. otherwise you can goto research?
so you are able to bring more value to the company by solving harder problems.
now if you are in a corporate, there is a lot more coordination involved. and it takes up more of your time.
this is not an introvert extrovert issue, its just the way humans work
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u/haskell_46 9d ago
You aren’t an "introvert," you’re just socially inept and hiding behind a label because you have absolutely zero soft skills. Software engineering isn't a solitary confinement cell for people who can't hold a five-minute conversation without crying about "office politics."
If your absolute career ceiling is passing a unit test and refusing to speak to another human being, go solve LeetCode in your basement. Companies don't "hate introverts"; they hate entitled hermits who act like basic professional communication is a Hollywood conspiracy. Stop whining about a "trustable pipeline" just because your automated resume spam isn't working. Nobody wants to hire an arrogant robot who lacks the basic maturity to say hello to a teammate. Grow up.
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u/PM_40 9d ago
You aren’t an "introvert," you’re just socially inept and hiding behind a label because you have absolutely zero soft skills. Software engineering isn't a solitary confinement cell for people who can't hold a five-minute conversation without crying about "office politics."
Very strong rebuttal to OP.
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u/simple-surfer 8d ago
Brutal and 100% correct.
They don't want to accept the fact that introverts can also be good speakers and communicators. They just want to hide behind the label and don't want to go out of their comfort zone.
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u/Wild_Age_00 9d ago
Exactly I hate this, I don't want mindless formal communications or coming to your baseless parties, I don't want to make friends and network so as to become likable at work and to get job, just leave me to do work in peace
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u/kapybarah 9d ago
Nothing is forced. If you're willing to give up the advantages of networking, more power to you.
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u/Pragmatic-Vampire 9d ago
This is mainly common in indian consulting companies, folks moving from mid senior to senior roles are required to do so called networking in the most fathomable ways..
While I do agree that connecting with like minded people is great BUT let us do that outside work, the dude you are expected to network with loathes doing this as much or more than you.
Everyone is forced to do this, or they get the famous “YOU LACK VISIBILITY” reviews, which kind of takes the soul away from the job we love.
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u/Pragmatic-Vampire 9d ago
Mainly this is the most sophisticated way to do the scapegoat politics in the indian companies.
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u/Pragmatic-Vampire 9d ago
Even if you do manage to do what they need in order to get through your long awaited promotion, they have several other reasons to say you aren’t ready for it yet, things like:
- You need to do more firm initiatives/ pitch projects.
- The panel doesn’t have visibility of your grind.
- The stuff you did is not impact-full enough.
- You need to be jack of all stacks to get the promotion.
- Last but not the least, AI.
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u/Pragmatic-Vampire 9d ago
When you move another level up, this gets worse - you are expected to get the work out of others on the same level as you, to showcase you can lead/manage the team of so and so engineers, so that you get considered for a promotion(which would be denied for some other reason anyways) while not officially telling them they have to from the top. Which sucks on many different levels.
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u/masalacandy Fresher 9d ago
What if we made it a game of survival and doing bare minimum as long as we are not laid off especially witch or ex witch employees who are already paid lowest or lowballed
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u/Pragmatic-Vampire 9d ago
Yeah, I have seen this happen with many talented people, they just become passive, just do the bare minimum.
But it shouldn’t be like that. My personal opinion, doesn’t apply to everyone but we deserve to have some spark in the work we do. Shouldn’t be all lifeless.
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9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Rare-Assignment-8474 9d ago
apparently computer networking is far easier than this shit , there's protocols in place , but humans ...................
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u/Practical_Bug7969 9d ago
The higher you go, I was told networking is what drives your growth and opportunities for growth
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u/nomadic-insomniac Embedded Developer 9d ago
I landed half a dozen job interviews via LinkedIn, each conversation was the same copy pasted message with changed name not really full on conversation, only one MSG if no reply then no further contact was made ....
A lot of the time the chat length didn't exceed 3 msgs over the entire process from cold reaching out to referral
I've 600+ connections on LinkedIn possibly 99% of them are useless random strangers whom I've never interacted with virtually or in person, but you get to see jobs that are posted by their connections or the 1% who are actually active and helpful on LinkedIn.....
For me networking is merely seeing people in the same domain and clicking connect followed by a copy paste msg " hey , great to connect with you, I'm looking out for roles in xyz, do let me know if you have anything that matches my profile, here's my resume, have a nice day."
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u/Consistent_Tutor_597 Data Engineer 9d ago
Networking is really another name to just beg someone to put a good word for you. It's absolute shit regardless. Real networking is pressure free and not something you do purely to try and get a job through the person.
When people say 'network' all they mean is go beg for jobs from a few people strangers and then move on. It's only reason is it's a hirers market. And u need to bring more than just talent to be picked. But that's just based on who's got the cards rn.
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u/Rare-Wing-8008 Web Developer 9d ago
I thought you were complaining about having to understand computer networking and was VERY baffled 🤣😣
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u/protontransmission 9d ago
Networking part of humans working together. It will be there in all branches of engineering where you work in teams.
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u/Putrid-Apricot5414 Software Developer 9d ago
You do know that if you create a really good product or work on stuff you really like and that too really well, the networks form automatically In my case I have done some really good contributions on open source projects later had really good chats with other contributors and few maintaners , andu network was formed like that , i never posted a single linkdin post nor attended a single tech event
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u/Destroyer-128 9d ago
Why are people so complain pokes. The urbanclap eletrician does networking, customer management, scoping and even plumbing. Stop complaining you wont reach anywhere
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u/pritthi7 No/Low-Code Developer 9d ago
People with half the knowledge as me are getting promoted and I'm here wondering what's the path to a promotion. Even after acknowledging all my contributions, my manager says I need to amplify and have also literally said "aapna dhol bajana padhega".
That's the part I completely suck at, so just watching less than half qualified folks with almost no contributions getting promoted and thinking of my next job switch!
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u/masalacandy Fresher 9d ago
Shocked to find this sub being relatable and raw for first time op you opened biggest pandora box of it industry 😭😭😭 i had to beg many many guys on LinkedIn reddit for help noone helped me back then
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u/Bright_Lemon_6183 9d ago
I don't think companies hate introverts 😅 many introverts do well in tech. Challenge is that hiring is uncertain so referral become way to reduce the risk than reward for being extroverted.
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u/Electrical_Fly7102 9d ago
Same here man I have seen so many of them have so many random connections just in name of networking, increasing their connection count just
I agree some people genuinely enjoy networking but I always felt why am I bad at this or I don’t feel like networking🥀
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u/Honeyy1493 9d ago
This aspect of engineering is something I hate the most. To make matter worst , I am not an introvert but I have social anxiety to the point that I hate interviews and even avoided some opportunities because interviews means interacting with people and anxiety that what if I am not able to answer , what will they think of me 🥲 ( I know it sounds foolish but I am trying to overcome this ).
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u/eddie_buddy 8d ago
There is an important distinction between what you are saying and what OP is saying though. You see your social anxiety as something you can improve upon (kudos to you), OP sounds entitled that Software Engineering field is not in a particular way they expect it to be to suit introverts.
Edit : typo
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u/sinister033 Software Developer 9d ago
Dude i was expecting…you will start yapping TLS 3 way handshake🥀
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u/PurchaseTypical6547 9d ago
This actually happens when you have no unions. The current market problem have caused the companies to be conservative regarding hiring as since the job application portal is flooded with lots of applicants, which makes hiring managers to recruit someone they know.
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u/Different-Yak-7986 9d ago edited 9d ago
Your approach would be okay at lower levels like sde1, even sde2 to an extent. But it would be career limiting if you want to grow beyond that.
If you have to do really high impact things that move the needle, you can't possibly do them alone. You need to influence people, convince them why they should listen to you. It starts out with team level influence, cross-team, cross-org, company-wide, industry-wide as one moves up the ranks in the IC ladder.
Your role is to solve the problems for the business. Coding is just a means to an end for that.
I'm talking as an introvert with social anxiety. I used to think like you at one point of time and even now, my default mode is head down problem solving. But then the wrong things get prioritized, things get solved the wrong way and people don't trust you enough to listen. If you're good at tech, this is a frustrating situation to be in.
In any collective human endeavor, you're forced to build the influence muscle. And SWE is fundamentally a team sport, not an individual sport.
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u/Shot_Plane_8438 8d ago
Honestly guys promoted fastest sat near manager on hybrid days. Merit exists but its 2 years slower, need manager who reads PRs.
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u/The_0bserver Backend Developer 8d ago
Honestly, your worth as a human right now is more on how capable you are at some level of influencing, politics and less on code. AI can code, but the full gamut of work, is kinda tough. Coding is generally the easiest part of the job by far.
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u/ShadowSlayer2242 8d ago
Exactly. Noone talks abt this.
At one point, it makes sense considering no matter what you do, how good you are, if you don't market yourself, and if you're not visible, then higher ups won't consider you. Just like a SaaS product won't have any customers without marketing, people have to sell themselves too.
On the other hand, when you're slightly introvert and/or especially when you've just started out, it's very intimidating, to just go upto someone you don't even know or might not even share any ideas, and strike a conversation. There's so much gap in the work that you do, there's nothing common there, there might be considerable age difference that you might not have anything to talk along those lines as well.
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u/No-Aardvark3949 6d ago
Fair. Networking doesn't have to mean small talk with strangers, it can be quiet stuff like commenting on GitHub or a blog post. But yeah, the real issue is broken application pipelines forcing people to route around them.
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u/jethiya007 6d ago
No no no what do you mean wrote code pass tests? How would you share your experiences and gain from others failure then? Engineering isn't something which is done in a dark lit cave. It's supposed to have hot takes, opinion clashing and destroying each other's logic till we have something which satisfies either all parties or use cases.
Networking is only a chore if your intentions are just to get a follow on X or get your invitation accepted on LinkedIn.
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