The people who really study and understand networks have found that there are two kinds of networks: strong ties (social networks) and weak ties (casual acquaintances). In a previous post on who should be in your network, I talked about work networks and the role of strong ties for getting things done inside the company. You need to have strong ties with people to spread information, manage teams and build influence inside the organization. And, long term, it's very important to build those strong ties. But for certain tasks, like job search, weak ties are more valuable than social networks. When most managers talk about the power of networks they're usually referring to networks built on strong ties. Job search is a different animal.
In Christakis and Fowler's fascinating new book, Connections, the authors take up the strength of weak ties and discuss the research of Mark Granovetter who wanted to find out the best kind of network for those of us who are looking for a new job. Granovetter surveyed technical, managerial and professional workers in a Boston suburb who had recently "relied on a personal contact to get a new job."
Here was his simple question: "Prior to switching employers, how often did you see the person who helped you get the new job?" The responses were revealing.
- 17% responded "often."
- 55% said "occasionally."
- 28% said "rarely."
When he dug into the detail Granovetter found that most workers got jobs via old college friends, past workmates or previous employers (another reason to never burn bridges). The contacts that he had with these people were "sporadic," and very few of the workers had ever spent any time with the job contact outside the workplace. And surpisingly, most of the workers had never had a strong relationship with their contacts. "Chance meetings or mutual friends reactivated the ties." In other words, most of his (Granovetter's) subjects had acquired their jobs by relying on the kinds of strangers.
The conclusion has an implicit recommendation: people find jobs by searching beyond their immediate social network, beyond their immediate ties. Wayne Baker studied the job search process nearly 20 years ago and learned that most people find their job through a friend of a friend of a friend. That's the same weak tie method.
That, of course, was before the web. It's important to recognize that the web does not make the old methods obsolete. Instead, it just provides additional ways to find a new job. But don't ignore the old ways. Most of my friends who are beyond Gen-Y age, still get their jobs the old way. If they're having a great deal of difficulty, often, it's because they have a limited social network to begin with.