How far would you go to network and make connections? Most of us would begrudgingly go to a networking event in the hopes of meeting other industry professionals.
But one guy says eschew all that and go directly into their homes. Yes, that’s right, creator and entrepreneur Sahil Bloom says go door knocking to land career advice.
The New Yorker shared a Twitter thread where he encouraged 16-24-year-olds to go to a coffee shop, fill up a large flask of coffee (enough for 10 people) and head onto a nearby rich area.
He then suggests asking people who open their doors about their career, spending 10 minutes with them to discuss how they made it.
The idea is that you’ll end up door knocking on someone who is so impressed by your plucky spirit, they’ll either give you excellent career advice or in a best case scenario, a job.
But, err, this approach comes with quite a few downsides.
As the tweet went viral, amassing more than 10,000 likes, people couldn’t help but point out all the flaws in the plan.
What happens, for example, if you’re a young woman knocking on a potentially dangerous person’s door? The power dynamics are obvious and you could be inviting yourself into further danger.
Or perhaps you’re a Black person knocking on a racist person’s door – you could be subjecting yourself to abuse or harm. People wasted no time pointing out all the cons.
Though the method was widely criticised, some pointed out that in a few exceptional cases, it can work.
One such example included Reggie Nelson, from a London council estate, who door knocked in Kensington and Chelsea. His graft paid off as he landed a job in the city after networking with people.
If you’re not comfortable going into people’s homes, you could always just hold up a large sign. That’s what another man did, hosting a pop-up sign to attract big wigs at Canary Wharf. And it worked.
Or you could stick to the good old networking event or mentoring scheme, just an idea.