So I know a lot of people claim that "it's not what you know but who you know" that helps you land a job. But as it turns out, who you know may not actually matter, after all.
When researching for my recent post on this overused and ineffective job search strategy, I came across a short article on LinkedIn by a guy called Brian Formato, and it got me thinking. In Brian's article, he echoes (in greater detail) one of the smaller points I touched upon in my post when he describes the importance of second degree connections. Here's what Brian had to say:
"Recently I was helping a few friends and former colleagues who are in career transition. They have been tapping their networks trying to land new jobs. Each hopes to be hired by one of their first level connection’s organizations. I explained my findings regarding the power of second level connections and [I] advised them to leverage their connections for introductions to people they don’t know.
This approach of using one degree of separation is quite powerful. Your first-degree contact serves as a reference and endorser of you and your capabilities. This immediately provides you with the credibility you need to get the attention of a new connection."
In other words, a first degree is great – but you shouldn't stop networking there. And when I thought about this point, it made a ton of sense.
After all, if your first degree connection has zero influence or decision-making power in the company's hiring process – and they can't introduce or endorse you to anyone with those powers – they really can't help you land a job in their company. They're pretty much powerless and – to be blunt – useless.
So while there's definitely some merit to the phrase "it's not what you know but who you know," it really comes down to who you know who knows the right people.
So now I'm wondering: What are your thoughts? Have your first-degree connections alone been enough to land that sweet new gig? Or have you more so relied on those second degree connections to get the job done? (I know I have.) Let me know in the comments below.
P.S. To read Brian's full post on LinkedIn, click here (highly recommend!).