Advancing One’s Career Through Social Networks
Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2017/09/11/using-social-networks-to-advance-your-career/#33fa067350a6
There have been a myriad of articles that place emphasis on the fact that weak ties and dormant ties (connections whom you have lost contact with, but used to be close with) inevitably play a pivotal role in finding a job. The main reason behind this is the fact that weak and dormant ties offer various types of novel information that your strong ties would otherwise have because these ties, unlike your strong ties, do not necessarily exist in the same social and professional circles as yourself (Kim Keating, “Job Strategy: The Human Side of Digital Networking”). This is directly related to the information covered from the textbook or in class, where we specifically discussed the strength of said ties.
However, I believe what needs to be emphasized by these ties is not the fact that these ties exist and are beneficial to ourselves, but that cultivating these ties is a priority rather than simply acting on these local bridges. The article (link provided at the top) highlights the evidence that while weak ties do provide job leads, it may not necessarily result in anything tangible. Ostensibly, the increase in weak ties leads more job opportunities, which in turn is more beneficial to oneself, but “[i]nterestingly, if your weak connections rose by 10%, the number of job offers fell by 1.3%”. One reason the article states that could be a potential explanation for this phenomenon is that one is more likely to put in effort that correlates to how strong a tie is, thus the weaker a tie, not as much effort to secure the offer is put in.
Logically, it makes sense that weak/dormant ties will lead to more opportunities; however, the work to convert these opportunities into actual offers require far more effort than an opportunity granted through a strong tie. Hypothetically speaking, if a recommendation were given by a strong tie, it will most likely be a fairly positive and advocative one. Idealistically, weak ties could provide a similar recommendation, but typically the recommendation has a “weaker” foundation; consequently, an employer may require more evaluation because they are unaware of how outstanding of a candidate you may be. Thus, acting upon these ties will provide the opportunity one may desire, but if one cultivates these weak or dormant ties into strong ties, the potential rewards will become more easily achievable.