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Networking has a reputation as a room full of strangers exchanging business cards, and the problem is that this image keeps people from doing the thing that most reliably advances careers. Real networking is not working a room, it is building a handful of genuine professional relationships over time, and the version that works feels nothing like the version people dread.The reframe is that networking is just being useful and memorable, because the most effective networkers are not the ones who collect contacts but the ones who help others, sharing a resource, making an introduction, offering a kind word, without keeping score. The practical starting point is small, reconnecting with former colleagues, sending a thoughtful note, having a real conversation, and letting the relationships grow naturally rather than forcing an ask on a stranger.The awkwardness disappears when the goal is learning rather than asking, because a
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