For the past ten years, every good opportunity in my career has come through people. Former clients who referred me. Colleagues who remembered a job I did well. Friends of friends who needed help and trusted the recommendation. In Australia especially, the circles in tech are smaller than you think and the degree of separation is tiny.
If you build real connections, you can often sidestep the mess that is interviewing and get hired for the work you actually do, not for how fast you can solve an algorithm on a whiteboard. I am genuinely grateful for that.
Networking is not handing out business cards or posting daily platitudes. It is doing good work, staying in touch, and being the person people want to introduce to other people. It is simple, but you have to treat it like part of the job.
Why this matters
Most hiring is risk management. A warm introduction lowers risk. Someone who has seen you deliver can vouch for your reliability, communication, and character. That matters more than a clever trick in a coding test. Networking gets you into rooms you did not know existed, often before roles are public. It also smooths everything that comes after: scope, trust, rate, timeline.
There is another benefit. When you know people across companies and roles, you learn faster. You pick up patterns. You hear what tools are working in the wild and where the pain really is. That context makes you better at your craft.
How I approach it
I keep it simple and human. If someone is doing good work, I say so and ask if they want to grab a coffee. I make the ask specific and respectful of time. Thirty minutes is enough. I come with a couple of questions and something useful to share, even if it is just a pointer to a resource. Be bold and courteous at the same time.
I try to leave people better than I found them. If two people should meet, I make the introduction. If I see an opportunity that fits someone else, I pass it on. Generosity compounds. You will not lose work by helping other people win.
I stay in touch without being annoying. A short note after a launch. A thank you when a tip helped me. A quick congrats on a new role. No ask attached. Just proof that I value the relationship beyond transactions.
I make myself visible. A small write up, a repo with a clear readme, a fun open-source project, a blog post. It does not have to be polished, just honest and useful. People cannot refer what they cannot see.
I also accept the coffee invites that come my way. Your next step often arrives through someone else’s calendar.
Freelance and consulting
Networking is oxygen when you freelance or consult. Most of my gigs have come from people I worked with before or people they introduced me to. Finish strong. Leave documentation. Make handover easy. Be clear, reliable, and calm when things are messy. People remember how you made them feel during the hard bits. That memory turns into the next opportunity.
Rates and scope get easier too. When trust is already there, you spend less time justifying every line item and more time shipping. Good clients want to pay people they trust because it is cheaper in the long run than cycling through unknowns.
Everyone has horror stories about difficult clients or projects gone wrong. The key is to learn from those experiences and not let them define your approach to networking. The stronger your network, the easier it is to find good opportunities and avoid bad ones.
Australia’s small world effect
Cities like Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne have tight circles. If you burn someone, word travels. If you treat people well, that travels too. I try to assume I will see the same faces again in a year under different logos. It keeps me honest.
It’s a small world, and reputation matters. Always assume you will cross paths again, either with the same people or their connections. This awareness shapes how I interact with others, I believe it’s important to be mindful of the long game.
Confidence helps more than you think
Sometimes networking and confidence get you ninety percent of the way. Not arrogance. Just a clear, friendly ask and the courage to show up. If you admire someone’s work, tell them. Offer something you can do in return. Most people say yes more often than you expect.
As an introvert, this was hard for me at first. I had to practice. I still do. But the payoff is real. Every good role I have had came through people who knew me and my work, not through a job board or a recruiter. Part of it has been building genuine relationships over time and also the right opportunities coming my way at the right time.
I try not to burn bridges. Do good work. Be humble. Do not be annoying. Do not spam people or turn every chat into an ad for yourself. Network with people doing good work in your area and industry. Be seen in the places where your craft lives. If you conduct yourself as someone people like working with, the rest follows. I trust that God returns that in kind.