There are lots of different connotations of the concept of networking. They all seem to be slightly, if not directly related, while being just a bit different. Before ‘Y2K’ and ‘Web2.0′ networking was touted as an effective way to do business in the sense of finding the best jobs or clients, etc.
In particular it was thought that for the better jobs, people in the hiring chair would be more apt to respond to applicants that had been recommended to them by their peers, or who they had some association with or at least knowledge of. In other words not just a nameless face off the street or anonymous resume sent to the human resources department.
There was a real science to networking offline, for example if you were networking at a company or industry function, you might meet a number of people and give them your business card at the end of the