Finding a Job through Relations
Everybody wants a job. Everybody knows that networks and connections help you get jobs. Thus, one could deduct that the more people you know, the more likely you are to hear of a job opening. This is true, and in fact most people learn of new job openings through weak connections. However, the stronger the connection between the people, the more likely the person will get the job. In fact, the connection between weak ties and job interviews is negligible. Ultimately, if you want to get a job, and not just hear about them, cultivate fewer weak relationships in favor of greater strong relationships.
In class, we talked specifically how, in a social network like this:
B would get the most news of new job offers from C because C has access to different information than C or any of its friends. However, we never discussed about actually getting the position. There’s more to the job process then just hearing about it. One must also apply and interview for the position (not to mention one must also prepare for the interview). In other words, it’s a lot of work to get a job! If B and C are only weakly connected, B may not be willing to put in all that work for many possible reasons. C may be lying—or misinformed—and B could have spent all that time applying for the fake job X when he could have applied to real job Y. If B is not especially pressed to find a job, B may not be willing to take that risk and apply. Or perhaps the job C is offering is not aligned with B’s interests (and C wouldn’t necessarily know that because they are not close). B would then have no motivation to apply. Now let’s say A also tells B of a job offering. B may be more willing to apply to that job because B trusts A more and will think there really is a job opening worth applying for. Additionally, if A’s job opening is in the same company A works at (which is likely because A would know more of the inner workings of its own company than a different company), then B would be more inclined to work at that position to spend more time with A. This may not always be the case, but let’s say A and B are high school students and A works at an ice cream shop that has a job opening. B will want to work there—and will therefore apply—so that she could spend more time with A and get money. Lastly, if A is strongly connected to the person responsible for hiring new people, Z, then by the Strong Triadic Property, Z and B will be connected—either weakly or strongly. This could be the result of A telling Z B’s strengths, past projects, experience, etc. Thus, Z will (hopefully) have a positive opinion of B before even meeting him, possibly giving B a higher chance of getting hired and making it more worthwhile for B to invest his time.
In short, make friends, not acquaintances if you want to increase your chances of being employed.