Publisher's Synopsis
This essay sheds light on why networking events are a waste of time and elucidates why career fairs should not be attended by jobseekers. The most effective strategies to a build a robust professional network in the digital era is delineated in this essay. The inherent value that networking events offer jobseekers has become egregiously overly embellished. Attending networking events will not only have absolutely no bearing on you attaining a desirable job, but will also adversely impinge on your self-esteem and self-confidence as you are hurled right back to square one after being disillusioned by the outcome of attending the overpriced networking event. There are ample reason as to why you should not squander your sacrosanct time attending network events beyond the aforementioned reasons provided. First, it is almost impossible to find a prospective employer at a networking event since the bulk of attendees are jobseekers and not employers. "Another drawback is that many attendees treat these networking sessions primarily as a pickup place" (Sullivan, 2018). Moreover, another issue simply lies in needing to converse with a copious amount of people at a networking event before you are fortunate enough to stumble upon one of the few that might possibly be able to help you attain a job. In other words, attending a networking event can be a veritably inefficacious approach to attaining a job. Second, it can be eminently arduous to identify who you should be interacting with since there is no easy way for attendees to distinguish employers apart from jobseekers without first interacting with as many people as possible. Unlike a career fair, prospective employers at these networking events will not have booths and be easily identifiable among the throng. "Many jobseekers inadvertently spend most of their time drinking, eating, or talking to other jobseekers or disinterested professionals" (Sullivan, 2018). Third, employers attending networking events may advertently avoid jobseekers in favor of conversing with employed professionals. Professionals attending networking events would often prefer to confer with other professionals so that they can learn the latest and utmost efficacious industry practices. They will likely find it vexing when jobseekers solicit them for job opportunities and career advice. "Moreover, jobseekers frequently bring nothing more than a paper resume and a business card. Jobseekers do not go to the event completely up-to-date in their field and ready to share best practices" (Sullivan, 2018). This culminates in jobseekers not offering any real value to established professionals interested in ascertaining the latest result driven strategies and tactics for success in their niche field. Fourth, these networking events can be highly time consuming as well as exorbitantly expensive to attend. Event admission fees can be costly and add up quickly, ultimately causing the jobseeker to succumb to a steep negative return on investment from attending these events. Additionally, the networking session may also not be within a close vicinity to the jobseeker's address which unfortunately defeats the overarching purpose of attending the networking events if the best outcome is that the job site for a prospective work opportunity is in a distant city that the jobseeker is unwilling to commute to each workday. Similarly to attending networking events, attending career fairs may also culminate in being a sheer and waste of time for the average attendee. Career fairs attract massive competition and recent college graduates which ultimately positions the unemployed at a greater disadvantage than at networking events. Moreover, due to the congestion of unemployed attendees, there is no time to develop, meaningful conversations with recruiters. Recruiters will even often times refer jobseekers to the company website to fill out the job application.
