Not just work experience but connections as well. I graduated back in the 90’s to a slow market. It took me months and sending out 100 or so resumes for a whopping 5 interviews, and eventually one job offer. Luckily for me I made a number of good connections at that place. After 2 years there I quit to join a startup where 4 of the 5 people there were all former coworkers. Over the past 25+ years I’ve worked at close to 10 companies, most of which came from connections from those first two companies.

When I started my current job, the CTO and cofounder was somebody I first met back at my very first job, and (including mergers) this is the sixth company where we’ve worked together.