Wasted a whole afternoon at a networking event in downtown Austin last Wednesday

I went to this big career mixer at the Hilton on 6th Street, maybe 200 people there. Everyone was just handing out business cards and talking about their perfect LinkedIn profiles, but nobody actually listened to anyone else. I stood next to a guy from an oil company for 10 minutes and he kept cutting me off to mention his job title. It really hit me that most people treat these events like resume drop-offs instead of real conversations. Has anyone else walked away from one of these feeling like you didn't learn a single useful thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona1mo ago

The Hilton on 6th Street, I actually went to a different event there last year and had the exact same problem. That oil guy sounds exhausting, ten minutes of him cutting you off is nuts. I remember talking to someone from a tech startup who spent the whole time staring at his phone while "listening" to me. Why do people even bother showing up if they're not going to have a real chat? Did you at least get a decent drink out of it?

oliver5231mo ago

Wait, he actually cut you off for ten whole minutes?