2 ladies from finance were chatting about one's niece who had foot surgery and had gone back recently to have the pins removed. "You're not going to believe what happened to my niece the other day," she started. And she goes on to explain that while in the doctor's office, the niece half-jokingly said that she would love to work there as an X-Ray Tech. The doctor half-jokingly replied that he'd hire her, but she left not knowing if he was serious. When she returned the next week for the follow up, her mother prodded her, "Go ahead, ask him!" "Ask me what?" the doctor replied. So she reminded him that she wanted to go to school to become an X-Ray Tech and that she'd love to work at his office. And the doctor says....

"I will hire you and pay for your school."

Goes to show, the power of networking your way to opportunities that haven't been formalized. Granted it's rarely that easy, but that's why this story is so good.