Networking is a real lever, at the Director+ level, referrals lift response rates from ~3% to 10–15%. The advice itself isn't wrong.
The problem is the implication. "You should network more" lands as "your search is failing because you haven't done enough." Most senior professionals deep into a search are already exhausted. The advice adds a new shame: now they're failing at networking too.
Three honest things about networking nobody admits:
It works on a 6–12 month timeline, not a 6-week one. Reaching out to your network in week 3 of a search rarely produces opportunities by week 8.
Most senior professionals have networks that have moved on, retired, or are in unrelated industries.
Asking for help is socially costly in ways that compound the emotional weight of an already hard search.
If networking is realistic for you, do it. If it isn't right now, for legitimate reasons of fatigue, time, or relational distance, that doesn't mean your search is failing. Other levers exist.
— Dr. Hosney Adel