These past couple networking events have taught me that people these days seemed to be defined what they are doing or not doing rather than who they are as a person. Well, it feels like it lately since all my questions are these past events have been the typical “What do you do?”.  I am not sure if I am the only one who feels this way but I don’t like being defined but what I am doing at this point in time. I would much rather be defined by my interests, like, dislikes, and how I treat you as a person.
The thing is I have a feeling that me like others are unemployed are not thrilled to be put into this little box in which we are defined by what we are not doing at this point in not working, but rather seeking work. I wish their was some other way that the unemployed population could be defined. I am not sure if this will ever change though.
My thought is that the discourse at these networking events needs to change and that the focus should be on getting to know one another rather our own personal agendas.  I say this because from what I have seen the goal seems to be very much the Jefferson’s “I am moving on up” type of scenario.  Their should be less pressure so that those of us who have a hard time interacting with a group of people might actually have a shot at the very least making some acquaintances or friends and maybe in the future a job.  I could be wrong and other networking situations might be like this I have just never experienced them up to this point.  But, for now I would like to just throw out the “I am looking for work” agenda and focus more on getting to know people, because I can do that.
These also has me wonder if other job seekers out there have faced similar issues when trying to network? If so I would love to hear about it, or if you have had awesome experiences networking with others I would like to hear about that also.