Want a job in sound? Stop networking.

Want a job in the game industry? Stop networking.

If you’re looking for work you’re probably hearing how you should be networking all the time. So you probably decide to try attending some “networking events” with the goal of finding people who can get you a job. After all, you want a job and you need to meet people to get one, so you go to the event with that in mind.

The problem is that you’re thinking of “networking” as a transaction. You want to meet people to get a job. You seem them as a means to an end – the end of your unemployment.

Strangely, most people don’t like feeling used…which is unfortunately exactly what this sort of interaction feels like. So a lot of the people who could help you find a job end up avoiding these events because they don’t like that feeling. After all, no one likes to feel like they’re getting worked over just to say hello. Connecting with people should feel organic and natural, not like some sort of ritualistic quid pro quo.

Want to get the most of these events? Stop thinking of them as “events”. While you’re at it, stop thinking of networking as “networking”.

I remember the first time I walked into my friendly neighborhood game store. Beyond the rows of games and models and dice, I was instantly struck by how so many other people in the store were just openly talking about gaming. Just browsing the aisles, I was wafting in and out of earshot of a dozen conversations about everything from DnD to Star Wars. Before long, I found myself jumping into a discussion about Battletech and introducing myself with some folks who ended up being some long time friends. I’d found my people…and they’d found me.

You want to get better at networking? First, you need to stop trying to network and you need to start finding your people.

When you shift your mindset like this, you stop worrying about whether the people at the “networking event” are even going to be able to help you find a job, because that’s no longer the point of you going. Instead, you’re looking for your people and I promise you’ll find them when you start thinking of it this way.

Suddenly, finding folks out of work isn’t a bad thing at all. After all, they won’t be out of work forever and those connections you made with other folks who were looking end up going a long way, particularly if you find yourself trying to help them find work (even when you need the help yourself).

Look, a lot of the people I entered the industry with as entry level associate producers at Activision are all now running teams or studios 15 years later. You never know who’s going to end up making it big, so just because someone’s out of work today doesn’t mean they will stay there. And when they are working, they’re going to remember “their people” who helped them out along the way – just as you’ll remember them.

So yeah, stop networking. Go find your people, instead … and let them find you, too. At worst, you’ve found new connections.