Career events / meetups / etc are worthless. You should be reaching out to people you already know, grabbing coffee, asking if they have anyone they can introduce you to.

1: Find people you want to meet on LinkedIn, but for the love of god don’t just sent them an message. First, check if you have any mutual contacts, and ask if that person would be willing to make an introduction. Then if they are, offer to buy that person coffee in exchange for answering a few questions about the industry you’re trying to break into.

2: After coffee, send a follow up email thanking them for their time, recap something you talked about, and show that you’re taking their advice. Then you can say something to the effect of, “If you ever hear of a job opening, please let me know.”

3: Do this over and over. You should be getting lunch or coffee with at least three people a day once you’re in the swing of things. It shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to have interviews lined up.

4: Once you do get a referral, you’re no longer a name in a pile, you’re now a person who has been personally referred by a colleague. Huge difference.