A few years ago, I was at a conference in Vegas. More accurately, I was on my way to the conference, riding the elevator.

And, being the super-friendly guy that I like to be, I struck up a conversation with the guy next to me. We walked across the casino together, talking about the conference, the industry, etc. And we became friends. Turns out that he’s the CEO of the largest industry-specific recruiting firm out there. But I wasn’t looking for a job.

We kept in touch, hanging out at conferences, meeting up on occasion, talking when we had a few. Just as all good networkers do. A couple of years later, he called me and said: “Hey Mike, there’s this guy you have to meet. By the way, he has a job that’d be perfect for you.”

And, yes, the job worked out. But more interesting (to me, anyways) was that this guy that I had to meet and the recruiter both ended up as guests on my podcast later on, helping me build the next phase of my career.

The point here is simple (though I’m making it convoluted) – as previous commenters said, building a network is a long-term, slow-growth, “you never know what you’re going to get” process. It’s not a job-search tool (though, sometimes it leads to jobs).

Mostly, your network is an opportunity that you create for the things that you need to show up at a given time. And the more people you help and serve, the more that opportunity grows.

Sorry for the long, convoluted, late-night networking story.

As Alex pointed out, networking is about long term results–building the relationships and credibility that lead to, and enhance, opportunities. But that won’t happen overnight–and it won’t happen to those who think a good night of networking is a rubber chicken dinner and a pocketful of business cards that go nowhere. Networking is a “give to get” gig. Those who are in it for themselves alone will languish and say networking never works.

But those those who network by doing for others, and those who network with a plan for nurturing their network every day (or week) over the life of their career, find that networking delivers in the most gratifying and unexpected ways–and often just when needed the most.

I think the funniest thing is that people think that networking is the silver bullet – it is definitely a great tool, and quite effective, but it won’t guarantee a short search, or quick success — especially if you “network” wrong!

You can get rich by playing the lottery but that doesn’t mean you should give up your “day job”. Put most of the effort into what is most likely to work. For a job search I believe that is networking and if you get lucky and win the “lottery” count your blessings.