Networking can get you a job even with no experience at all (seriously, it's very much possible). Then of course, you will have to pay the piper probably (e.g. work more hours then the rest of the team to keep up) but from what I see here, most people learn programming on the job and stick to their specific company needs (internal policies, stacks, language, etc.)... Except from exceptional programmers, consultants and some other categories who love their job contribute to open source, keep their own projects and so forth..