You might be networking all wrong — and it could be costly. In an era of AI-generated applications and a sluggish job market for many desk workers, making connections can be key to standing out and landing a role. While forming solid professional relationships can help, it’s not always easy to know how to start.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Henry Chen, a former Meta tech lead who was laid off in May. He’s 38 and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The following has been edited for length and clarity. After I left college, I worked as a DJ for a few years, taught
When Cristina Estupiñán was looking for work after a layoff, potential employers asked her during interviews about her enthusiasm for AI. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm was missing. “I have to come up with something about what excites me about AI because, frankly, nothing really excites me about AI,” Estupiñán, who worked in software development, previously told
When the email arrived in my inbox, my heart skipped a beat. The company’s co-founders announced that they had made the difficult decision to lay off about 20% of their workforce and restructure the organization. Those affected would know in the next hour or so. For a moment, I assured myself that my role would
This essay as told is based on a conversation with John Huân Vũ, a senior Visa consultant living in San Jose. He previously worked for PayPal for 10 years before being fired in 2024. The following has been edited for length and clarity. When I was fired from PayPal in July 2024, I was in
