At what point does «networking» become «your parents know the CEO»?

I’m convinced the job market has become one giant game of musical chairs, except half the chairs already have someone’s cousin’s name on them. Every time I open LinkedIn, I see another post about how someone landed their «dream opportunity» at 22, and before I even finish reading, there’s always that tiny voice in the back of my head wondering… Okay, but who did they know?

Don’t get me wrong, not every successful person is a nepo baby. Plenty of people work incredibly hard to get where they are. But pretending connections don’t matter in 2026 feels almost delusional. The market is so unbelievably saturated that you can spend hours tailoring your résumé, writing the perfect cover letter, preparing for interviews, only to find out the position quietly went to someone’s nephew before applications even closed. It’s enough to make you question why you spent forty-five minutes adjusting the margins on your CV.

People be saying «Just network!» Okay… with who? The CEO I definitely don’t know? The creative director I somehow missed at family dinner? Sometimes networking feels suspiciously similar to already having the right last name.