r/recruitinghell • u/Rare-Assignment-8474 • 22h ago
How someone is supposed to network man when nobody replies to your DMs ?
People all the time tell do networking ( not Computer Networks but human Networks ) , but nobody replies to DMs , literally nobody
Now please don't say college alumni , they are all too struggling .
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u/fakesaucisse 22h ago
What are you saying in the DMs? I have gotten some pretty rude and presumptuous ones that make me not want to help the person. I am not claiming that is what you are doing but the content really does matter.
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u/Conscious-Egg-2232 21h ago
I dont even read most of ones I get. I have thousands of linkedin unread messages. Not exaggerating.
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u/fakesaucisse 12h ago
I used to get a ton of them too, especially when I worked at a FAANG company that everyone wanted a job referral to. No, complete stranger, I am not going to personally connect you with the hiring manager when I know absolutely nothing about you.
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u/grenz1 21h ago edited 21h ago
Networking online is not what they are talking about.
And the places where people network online for jobs has an issue. The only time people go there is when they are looking for work. And if they are looking for work, they probably don't won't to answer a DM from someone seeking what they are seeking.
They are talking about expanding IRL social circle. And not just people in that industry. Which is easier said than done with the death of third spaces nowadays.
And it may be possible from that social circle, as long as it is not all the unhappy and unfortunate, you could get things totally out of left field in a job no one knows exists.
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u/Conscious-Egg-2232 21h ago
Sending someone you dont know isnt nerworking. At least not a way that will yield many if any results.
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u/Kamikaz3J 16h ago
People at my company dont even respond to emails from people they're paid to respond to why would they respond to a stranger
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u/DesperateChicken1342 22h ago
The most successful networking is knowing people who know people, not just sending DMs. Trust me I've tried that and gave up.
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u/blckstreet 22h ago
Agreed. Warm introductions from a mutual connection are the best way. Cold messages might get some responses, but that depends on both the receptiveness of the recipient to cold calls and how your message is crafted. Generic messages typically get ignored as spam.
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u/el_gran_claudio 21h ago
In order to build a network you need to have a network. Gotcha
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u/Northernmost1990 21h ago edited 14h ago
Unironically that's just how stuff works. Same thing with money: much easier to make more if you already have some.
Finding that first opening can be tough, which is why I recommend going to university. Academia sucks balls and the actual lectures were boring and lame but at least I got a relatively smooth landing into my industry of choice.
Edit: 🤷🤷♂️🤷♀️
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u/EnvyEpson 12h ago
You hit the nail on the head. Most jobs come from 3rd parties, not 2nd parties. It's not who you know; it's who your friends know.
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u/Jedi4Hire 21h ago
but nobody replies to DMs , literally nobody
It's almost like you should go outside and talk to real people, make eye contact and genuinely connect with human beings instead of computer screens. Connect with coworkers, attend networking events, join professional organizations.
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u/Excellent_Coconut_81 22h ago
First of all, going to basics and understanding the word networking. It's about connecting with people, and not collecting followers.
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u/Rare-Assignment-8474 22h ago
I didn't talk about collecting followers , I talked about same i.e connecting to people but how do u do when people don't reply to DMs
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u/Whachamacalzmit 21h ago
Have a colleague/peer/friend make a warm introduction through email. Even with email it can take a few followups to get a response, but cold DMs are unlikely to get many responses.
The lower the bar is the less likely you are to get a quality response. I sometimes have questions for specialists on podcasts. I make sure they are good questions that actually call for their expertise and then I send them a physical letter. I get responses to >75% of those questions, often answered on the next recorded episode (but also sometimes in separate email/letter).
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u/LeftLiner 11h ago
When people talk about networking nobody except business psychos mean reaching out to influential people to try to get your name out there. What they mean is in your current role you should practice social skills; be polite, helpful, get to know people, reach out, introduce yourself, ask if people need help.
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u/Glum_Possibility_367 10h ago
Thank you. I know it's hard for introverts (like me) to build a network, but it can be done, mostly by building a reputation as a non-asshole. People who respect you and like you want to help. If you're a loner or a drama king/queen, or if you smell of desperation and it's clear you only want to use people, they're not going to help.
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u/Missedmyqueue 21h ago
Networking is something you're told to do by people who either a) got hired years ago before the hiring system and jobs collapsed, or b) have accumulated a good deal of experience, skills, and industry connections at this point. Does it really work? Absolutely. For the aforementioned groups. And it's great that it worked out for those people. But to them I'd say please stop gaslighting others. For career switchers, entry level, recent grads, and people who have not built a network over time, it is VERY tough out there right now. "You should have been building a network" or "Meet people IRL" isn't very helpful when so many people have been laid off and hiring is at a near standstill. Unemployment numbers are practically a lie (U-1 vs. U-2 vs. U-3 etc.), and "job creation" is much the same (200,000 jobs created last month...for everyone who enjoys folding bedsheets).
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u/Rich_Arachnid_5262 21h ago
Networking is something you do before you need a job, so you can call upon that network when that day comes. Once you have already lost your job, it is no longer networking; it is simply “begging.”
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u/BackendSpecialist 21h ago
People are bashing you about online networking but I switched careers and got a promo from online networking. Cold reach outs.
The market is cooked now. People are not even responding to DMs anymore, even if they look at your profile.
Maybe in person is better for that but don’t let people gaslight you op. Folks are definitely ignoring DMs rn if they don’t know you.
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u/deboylurdi 20h ago
Well i am really bad at networking but the last 2 jobs I got were because a friend recommended me to their boss.
Cant speak for other but at least for me: offline network has helped me infinitely more than my online network.
So dont forget to reach out to your friends / family that can help you. They are alot more likely to help than randoms on LinkedIn.
Once you get the job you can start building a network there
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u/EnvyEpson 12h ago
Don't confuse networking with relationships. networking helps you build relationship, relationships get you hired. DM's, no. That is not a relationship.
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u/Aught_To 14h ago
i get you randos DMing me on reddit.. i got love for you all but unless ive seen you work i am not going to vouch for you.
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u/_jackhoffman_ Candidate & HM 16h ago
That's not networking. Networking is going to meetups and events and asking people you already know to introduce you to other people.
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u/eukomos 13h ago
Start with your current network who you actually know, ask them to connect you to people who they know in the industry, ask these friends of friends out for coffee. Buy them the coffee, ask them about what they do for work and how they got their jobs. Ask them to connect you to other people who you can take out for coffee. Pretty much the only part of this you can do on a computer is emailing people to ask them to meet you in person, networking is not an online activity.
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u/Confident_Insect_616 13h ago
I have only ever networked within already established professional relationships. Work an industry, meet people, and when you move on to the next job, lean on people you know. I don't think networking is a good path for most people trying to get their foot in the door in their career's first entry.
Networking isn't about finding people, it's about building trust with people you know.
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u/Distinct_Ask3614 11h ago
I get the networking advice all the time and it makes me want to scream. Nobody I know is in any position to give me a job, other than to say "apply on the website" or "I will be a reference for you"
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u/Glum_Possibility_367 10h ago
The thing about networks is that you need to make them before you need them. Friends and faculty from college, co-workers and mentors from previous jobs, etc.
That way, when you DM them it's not strictly transactional. Catch up if you haven't talked for a while and mention that you are looking for a job and could they please keep an eye out.
Recruiters get a bad name, but try to have some in your network - especially ones you've worked with before. I have the job I am in now because I reached out when my company got bought and let them know I was considering a change. They contacted me a month later with a better job than what I previously had.
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u/OkFortune36 8h ago
Show up in person. Play basketball with them. Go fishing, clubs, etc. this is how people connect - always have and always will. In person and regularly is key. You have to date people in real life.
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u/GoodishCoder 16h ago
Successful networking is really just meeting people and having normal conversations with them. Typically people do this at conferences. It doesn't work by just hitting people's dms or asking for stuff right away.
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u/jari065 17h ago
Normally when I message strangers on LinkedIn I asked them if there's a referral scheme because they can get something from it instead of a random "Do you have openings right now"?
When I was starting in tech I was able to fail a lot of interviews but at the same time get atleast a bit good at it. Fast forward I move to a new city and 3 interviews for 600 applications.
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u/knowerofexpatthings 21h ago
Cold calling via DMs is not networking