Strong and Weak Ties Lead to Job Offers
Article link: http://www.businessinsider.com/which-facebook-friends-can-help-you-find-a-job-2016-5?platform=hootsuite
Facebook is our number one form of communication nowadays. Looking to meet up with an old college friend? Use Facebook. Trying to get up to date with news articles? Use Facebook. Laura Gee’s article measures tie strength via Facebook. Between two people, it looks at tags, posts, shares, and mutual friends. If Person X interacts a lot with Person Y and if they share a decent amount of mutual friends, then X & Y can be considered close friends, connected by a strong tie. During the first few weeks of class, a key concept we’ve studied is strong vs. weak ties. We discussed whether close friends or distant friends, acquaintances, would be more helpful in finding a job opportunity. In the article, the author describes both sides: the advantages that both a close friend and a distant friend bring to the table in regards to helping an individual find a job.
A study was done to figure out where people found out about job opportunities, and the results were apparent – most jobs come from weak ties. Weak ties have access to different groups of friends, so they act as local bridges, which is exactly what we talked about in class, The Strength of Weak Ties. Acquaintances hear about job opportunities that you never would have heard about from the friends you spend the most time with. They get information from their own social circles and then share that info with you, since they represent the only connection between you and that group of friends.
However, the results of this research study were also countered. It is possible that jobs came from weak ties on Facebook because a great majority of our Facebook friends happen to be distant friends. Out of all your Facebook Friends, how many have you had a conversation with in the past month? How many of them are your best friend’s camp friend’s roommate, whom you’ve never spoken a word to? This article offers a new point of view, explaining how not only weak ties, but strong ties also lead to superb job offers. People could have found out about jobs from close friends, especially those who you have a very strong tie with. Since they see you more often and care deeply about your job search, they, too, can help you find a job. Clearly, even though weak ties may have an upper hand in helping someone find a job opportunity, all degrees of ties are extremely helpful.