Originally Posted by
BoilerUP
I personally find networking for networking's sake to be hollow and extremely transparent.
I have found an exchange of information, common background, or common interests seem to provide stronger friendships and professional contacts and doesn't give both parties the feeling like the professional relationship exists solely in a transactional way to further the job prospects of one or both parties.
Agreed. I'm bewildered when people start "networking" when they decide to start looking for a job. That's too late. It's a process that takes YEARS...even DECADES. You have to be nice to people, take care of people, be noticed for your hard work/integrity and not focus on your own little world. Then you keep track of contacts and keep in touch with former coworkers over the long haul. Facebook and linkedIn are good places to start reconnecting. My current reserve job and my current airline job were both products of a very long process described above. The contacts that helped me out were people I had worked with 7-15+ years earlier. They were folks I somehow stayed loosely in touch with or knew well enough way back when that I could call them up out of the blue. Even if you are not looking for a job, networking exists so that you can help OTHER people out when they need a hand. Then, someday, it all comes back around.