The AI Networking Play: Get Your Work Seen by the Right People

Your portfolio is brilliant. But if the right people never see it, it doesn't matter.

"Networking" feels awkward and transactional. Let's make it strategic. This is the play for getting noticed by the design directors, creative leads, and recruiters who can actually change your career.

The Play

1. Target Acquisition
Find a design leader on LinkedIn—someone at a studio you admire, a recruiter posting roles you want. Grab one of their recent, substantive posts.

2. Command Your Analyst
Feed the post to your AI tool with context about yourself. Let it find genuine connection points between their thinking and yours.

3. Draft with Intelligence
Use the AI's analysis to write a comment that adds value. Not generic praise. A real contribution that shows you think critically about design.

The Prompt

Copy this, fill in the brackets, paste into ChatGPT or Claude:

Act as my PR strategist. Help me write an insightful LinkedIn comment on a post from a design leader I admire.

My Background: 
[e.g., "UX designer focused on accessible fintech. Just finished redesigning payment flows for neurodiverse users."]

The Post: 
[Paste the full LinkedIn post here]

Tasks:
1. Summarize the post's core point in one sentence
2. Identify the most insightful angle or unanswered question
3. Draft three comments (under 100 words each):
   - Add Value: Contribute a relevant follow-up thought
   - Ask Smart Question: Pose an open-ended question that extends their thinking
   - Connect Experience: Link their point to your own work

Remember

The AI drafts. You refine. Make it sound like you, not a bot.

This isn't a numbers game. One sharp comment beats fifty "Great post!" replies. You're starting a conversation, not collecting likes.

Pro move: Tools like engage.ai can generate first drafts faster. Use them for speed, then apply this playbook to make it yours.

Before & After

A Creative Director at Figma posts:
"Just wrapped a panel on AI in design. The tools are evolving faster than our workflows. Exciting and terrifying."

Generic (Invisible):
"Love this! Thanks for sharing."

Strategic (Memorable):
"I've been using AI for wireframing but noticed it can flatten early exploration if I'm not careful. Curious—what was the panel's take on maintaining creative risk when tools optimize for 'good enough' so fast?"

What Happens Next

You comment. They might reply, they might not. But you're visible now. They check your profile, see your work, remember you're not just another portfolio spammer.

Three weeks later: "Saw your comment on Sarah's post. We're hiring. Available to chat?"

Next week: The AI Interview Play—turn your projects into interview answers that get you hired.

P.S. Stop waiting to be discovered. Make yourself discoverable.