When I walked into the second interview at my first job, one of the developers said: “Hi, I think you know my husband.” It turned out that her husband was a college classmate of mine. I didn’t get the lead from him (that would have been smart of me), but at least he must have said nice things when she asked (or I’m guessing I wouldn’t have been hired). It was pure luck, but I’m a big believer that Randomness is the Great Creator.

The woman who would become my wife started at that same company two years later. She was smart enough to get a referral from her alumni network, who had also gotten the job through an alum connection from a third person who had worked her alumni network to get the job through the wife of one of our executives. It was a triple-bank shot, with absolutely no chance of working, but without it, I would never have met my wife.

My luck continued. At my next job, I helped find one of our early customers, who was a prominent alum I had met because he hired a few of my friends (fellow alums of both of us). The work we did for them eventually led to a patent and getting VC money to pivot to a startup. This was more than 25 years ago, and I am still on the board and participating in their successes. More than 90% of my 2024 income came from connections I made there.

From the outside, it looks like randomness, and it is, but there are things you can do to move the odds, and networking with alums is an easy one.