I got my first Job out of college thanks to my roomates Dad. He worked for the company in another department. He headed the hardware side of IT. They lost a software engineer and I had just graduated with my degree in software engineering. He told me to apply and I did.

I still needed to get thourgh the interview process, but his recommendation helped me as a fresh college grad with no industry experience. It's turned out great. I got a job my direct supervisors very happy with my preformance, and I got promoted recently, but without that connection there is no garuntee I would have got my foot in the door.

Connections are important they can open doors and give you opportunities. As long as you got the talent and skill to capitalize on those opportunities it's fine imo.