A dislike for networking

TCP/IP? Naw, those are awesome. I don't know what I would do without them. Network analyzers? Also enjoyable. Having a machine calculate S parameters is fine with me. It's the (ab)use of your relationships to enhance your professional career that I dislike. Perhaps I won't mind it in 5-10 years when I have something to offer back, but at the moment I abhore the fact that I am being upbraided to utilize my friendships for gain.

Perhaps it is just that I have not built many friendships of utility and so I am having to convert other types of relationships to fill the void. Cicero would be disappointed. The job hunt has begun, and everywhere I look the first suggestion that is made is to network. On the one hand, I can absolutely see the benefit to using contacts. It is dreadfully difficult to get a true handle on a person through a 1-2 page document, and a couple of discussions. If there is a previous relationship, there is a much greater guarantee that the person is who s/he claims to be. But, I care about my friends and relationships, and I dislike asking people for things. Perhaps that is fundamentally the issue. My neurosis to be independent strikes again. One would think experience would have quelled that by now, but bad desires die hard.

Sigh...

Anyone have any good optical engineering positions opening in their departments? ;-)

--The Wallaby