Hot take: I used to think networking was just for salespeople until a laid-off engineer in Seattle told me his story last month.

He said, 'My last three gigs all came from a guy I helped move a couch in 2019,' which convinced me to finally start reaching out to old contacts, so what's the best way to reconnect without being awkward?

3 comments

3 Comments

verab761mo ago

I had the same thing happen after my old coworker Mark from the Phoenix office got me a job lead last year. What worked for me was just sending a quick text saying I saw something that made me think of them, like an article about a project they used to work on. Then I'd ask a simple question about what they're up to now, and most people were happy to catch up. It feels less like a big ask and more like a normal chat.

diana1401mo ago

Honestly, that feels a bit fake to me.

thomas.parker1mo ago

Saw a piece about how most people actually like getting those random check-in messages. The fear of seeming fake is mostly in our own heads, and a low-pressure text can work better than overthinking it.