Networking – Not Who You Know,
But How Many

Networking as a job-hunting tactic works not only between persons in close relationships, but with those in distant ones as well. This surprising information came from sociologist Mark Granovetter in his classic 1974 book, Getting a Job.

The author interviewed several hundred professional and technical workers around Boston, asking them in detail about their employment history. He found that that 56% had found their job through a personal connection, about 20% applied directly to the employer, and the rest used ads, headhunters, etc.

It was not surprising that the best way to get in the door is through a personal contact, but a majority of the respondents said the useful connections did not involve close friends. They were what the author called "weak ties" -- people were getting their jobs not through their friends but through acquaintances.

Granovetter argues that when it comes to finding out about new jobs -- or for that matter, gaining new information, or looking for new ideas -- weak ties tend to be more important than strong ties. Mere acquaintances inhabit different worlds from your own close circle, and are much more likely to know something that you don't. He coined the phrase "the strength of weak ties" to describe his paradox, and concludes that the more people you know who aren't close to you the stronger your position becomes.

The author then looked at what he called "chain lengths" -- how many persons had to pass along the news about your job before it got to you. A chain length of zero meant you learned about your job from the person offering it. A chain length of one meant you heard about the job from someone who had heard about the job from the employer. And so on.

The people who heard about their jobs from a zero chain were the most satisfied, made the most money, and were unemployed for the shortest amount of time between jobs. People with a chain of one came in second in these job aspects, and so it went, with job-related good fortune diminishing as the chain lengthened.

Granovetter argues that what matters in getting ahead is not the quality of your relationships but the quantity of people you can connect to. Social isolation works against you. The article pointed out that some acquaintances can be especially valuable -- those persons who have large and varied networks of their own and seem to know everyone.

As a little mental exercise, I calculated that I am two degrees of separation (chain links) from the President of the United States: a friend of mine has worked as an aide to a Congressman. And I'm probably one link away from Clint Eastwood: an old friend plays a lot of golf with the Pebble Beach Establishment.

(Excerpted by Sharon Rufener from an article in The New Yorker, Jan. 11, 1999, p. 61)