Business and Pleasure: networking the happy hour

This is now my fourth blog post on Codebelay, and I’ve already given you the tools to open yourself up to social networking online, via your cell phone, and through the old fashioned (but not yet extinct) newspaper and magazine, so you may now be asking yourself how to obtain the monies to fund the new social you. Social networking is a great start to getting out there, meeting new people, and making new connections, but when it’s a new job you want, simple social networking isn’t always enough. You need a more focused kind of networking, but you needn’t sacrifice your social life. Why not mix a little business with pleasure?

The key to any kind of networking is to be constantly aware, always looking. People can (and do) get job tips going to the dentist office or while shopping at the grocery store, they just need to keep an ear out and keep themselves open. So why not put yourself where the right people are clustered together in order to raise your chances?

So where do we find these places? I did say we are mixing business with pleasure, so here’s my suggestion: the local happy hour. You can easily do a search with Yelp or Citysearch for bars located in the same area as the place you would like to be working. Across the street and around the corner are good bets for places people like to head to after a hard day’s work.

In San Francisco, one bar that was given four out of five stars on Yelp and scored number ten on Unthirsty’s Top Ten Happy Hours in San Francisco is the Irish Bank Bar & Restaurant, located near the city’s Financial District in the Nob Hill neighborhood. With moderate prices and a boastfully authentic Irish atmosphere, the Irish Bank is sure to offer an enjoyable evening.

Mars Bar & Restaurant, which made number four on Unthirsty’s Top Ten list, is located in the South of Market district and touts itself as “the perfect place to end your workday.” A lot of reviewers on Yelp, where it averages another four out of five stars, would seem to agree. Their happy hours runs from three in the afternoon to seven in the evening, Monday through Friday. Happy hour dining is offered from five in the evening until eight Monday through Thursday, and four to nine PM on Fridays.

Another San Francisco bar that scored highly on Yelp and Citysearch is Jade Bar. Citysearch awarded Jade Bar best happy hour in both 2007 and 2008, and lists its specialty as an after-work bar. And as more than one reviewer pointed out, it is difficult to beat a two dollar drink special here in the city. Happy hour is Tuesday through Thursday, five in the evening to seven-thirty, and runs all night on Sunday. (What a way to start the week!)

The tech types might want to head down to South Bay and Pedro’s Restaurant and Cantina located in Santa Clara not far off US 101. One happy customer described it as having “free food, cheap drinks, and is an after-work place for the tech types.” Go on, make friends. Pedro’s scored four and a half stars out of five over at Citysearch. Pedro’s happy hour runs from four in the afternoon to seven at night, and features one dollar off margaritas (they won best margarita in Silicon Valley in 2005 on Citysearch) among other drink specials.

Also found not too far from US 101 in Sunnyvale is another bar that has been described as being full of “tech-professional types,” the Faultline Brewing Company Restaurant. Moderately priced, Faultline offers something I have yet to see in other bars out here in California: a duck pond. (And if you know of any, please comment and tell me how to find them. Many thanks!) In 2006 and 2007, Faultline was voted as having the Best Beer Selection in Silicon Valley on Citysearch. The wine list also seems more than adequate, which you can look over for yourself on their website. You may also check out their full food menu and a listing of their ales and lagers, as well as “meet” the brewmaster.

Now, I’m not saying that it is a good idea to go pester people in their downtime for a job, but it certainly can’t hurt to make yourself a familiar face while enjoying a nice, relaxing, inexpensive drink, can it? Make some conversation, meet some new friends, listen in one the latest gossip, and who knows? You just might find that one diamond in the rough tidbit of information that could lead you to the next job of your dreams. Good luck! And happy drinking.