Schmoozing is for Suckers

You’ve probably heard that your network is your net worth, and there’s definitely truth to that.

When you get to know people, whether at school or work, a coffee shop, or a theater, you make a connection, and you can potentially go away from that experience with a new friend, maybe somebody that you want to date or a business connection that can help you further your career somehow.

But when people say you should always be networking, they probably are giving you a catch-all and vague assignment because if you think about it, if you’re always networking or trying to get something from someone, it generally comes across as not genuine, or fake, or at worst, desperate.

My Experience

I’ve had periods where I thought I had to network at all times to get a job or something I wanted.

For example, I had mentors in college who worked in finance, and because I didn’t have a great college name behind me, it was hard to get into Wall Street private equity or any real finance.

So, I did my best to network at church, school, and the coffee shop I worked at to ultimately meet some really cool investors. I met people who were high-frequency traders, people who traded commodities, investment bankers, private wealth managers, and real estate developers.