Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
utefan001: Job 1 (connection) 1998 $17 tech support for 100 person architecture firm.Job 2 (unplanned connection) 1999 The CEO of the 15 person software company went to highschool with a girl cousin of mine.  He obviously use to like her.Job 3 (no connection) 2001 thank you monster.comJob 4 (no connection) 2002 side job, thank you careerlink.comJob 5 (no connection) 2004 thank you monster.comJob 6 (no connection) 2006 January..thank you monster.com, literally insane bossJob 7 (no connection) 2006 July..thank you indeed.com, bored had to leave.Job 8 (no connection) 2007 June..thank you craigslistThe thing that I am most grateful for that has helped me get jobs without connections is Job #5.  The company was growing fast and had hundreds of areas where I could work on sql performance tuning.  Even when I arrived home I would always dial in to work on sql performance tuning.  I gained most of my confidence (not arrogance) making significant contributions during Jobs 3, 4 and 5.  That confidence gained through experience helps during an interview.