I agree with a couple of your points but I think you might be overreacting.
You're probably right and if so, I apologize. I guess it's just my way of venting my frustration with so many people talking when they should be listening. To me, OP's post just seems like feeding fuel to that fire.
I would never want to discourage anyone from becoming part of our community. It's just that some ways are much better than others.
And how else do you expect someone to get into the industry without some cold emails or calls?
Networking. Better to get out there without an agenda, meet people, and grow. Most of us would much rather meet someone and get to know them than to just delete another unsolicited email among hundreds of others.
Whether you email, network, or do something else, here's the most important thing: have something of value to offer, and offer it. That will get you noticed.
That said, one should always be building up a defined skillset concurrently.
Do you know how hard it is to find good potential hires? It's really fucking hard, costly and time-consuming. If you think you're doing someone a favor by dropping off your resume at their job-fair booth, you've got some things to learn.
The best jobs are found via recommendation for a positions; better than that is to be recommended as a hire without there even being a position open with your specific skill or even a strategy in place on how to address that. Nobody is going to read your blog posts and come calling. (Unfortunately, some times they do for reasons unknown. Don't ask me why.)
The only way to do that is to get out there and execute on your ideas, make friends with as many people as you can, respect them and yourself and yes, network your ass off, even if you aren't looking for a job. Show some chuptzah, create demand around yourself and get them thinking that if they don't float an offer out to you, someone else will.
You're probably right and if so, I apologize. I guess it's just my way of venting my frustration with so many people talking when they should be listening. To me, OP's post just seems like feeding fuel to that fire.
I would never want to discourage anyone from becoming part of our community. It's just that some ways are much better than others.
And how else do you expect someone to get into the industry without some cold emails or calls?
Networking. Better to get out there without an agenda, meet people, and grow. Most of us would much rather meet someone and get to know them than to just delete another unsolicited email among hundreds of others.
Whether you email, network, or do something else, here's the most important thing: have something of value to offer, and offer it. That will get you noticed.
That said, one should always be building up a defined skillset concurrently.
Definitely! This never ends.