Are you using the six degrees of separation concept in your job search networking? If not, you may find this post extremely useful!
Six degrees of separation background
In the 1967 “Six Degrees of Separation” study published in Psychology Today, Stanley Milgram distributed letters to 160 students in Nebraska, instructing that they be sent to a stockbroker in Boston (not personally known to them) by passing the letters to anyone else that they believed to be socially closer to the target. The study found that it took an average of six links to deliver each letter. It tested the theory that you are one degree away from everyone you know, two degrees away from everyone they know, and so on.
The concept was popularized by a 1990 play, and later made into a film. Then in 1994, college students invented the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” in which the challenge was to connect every film actor to Bacon in six cast lists or fewer. Ironically, Mr. Bacon took advantage of the phenomenon, launching a website sixdegrees.org, bringing together people interested in helping good causes—incidentally, yielding over $3 million in donations at this writing.
Milgram’s work inspired Malcolm Gladwell. In his book, The Tipping Point (2000), he described how a large number of individuals ultimately got connected to one other person by just a very few, surprisingly connected individuals that provided a common link.
In 2006, Microsoft backed the theory for the most part, finding that the average path length among Messenger users is 6.6, in a study of 30 billion conversations among 240 million people.
Why this matters to your job search
The idea is that you may be no more than two or three people, or degrees from networking to get connected with an employee at the company you are targeting. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, BranchOut, and a gazillion other social media sites build on this premise. Email and Skype have certainly made it a small world. But you can powerfully leverage it offline as well.
Suppose you’re on a job board like Simply Hired, and see an opportunity with IBM, Merck, or another company. Instead of blindly sending your resume to that company (or recruiter), try to find a reference you can leverage to get to them. Use online resources to be sure. But also ask around—family, friends, former colleagues, customers etc. When you find one, you have a reference to network through the back door.
Another great strategy is to have your best references send in letters of recommendation to the hiring manager during the interview process. This act will likely be perceived as the kind of proactive determination you will show on the job. Companies need good employees. Sell yourself as one of these employees; many companies will find a place for you.
From the trenches: a six degrees of separation true story from my client
My client, Zach, recently wanted to find a position with 3M. The company’s website had a posting for a position they wanted filled that was located in Little Rock, Arkansas. How was he to avoid being buried in the hundreds of resumes this company receives in today’s economy? Here’s what we did:
Zach and I brainstormed to see if he knew anyone at 3M. After two days of checking around, it turned out that Zach’s wife’s friend (in St. Paul) used to work there. Zach called her and got the name of her vice president.
Zach called the VP (now in Washington D.C.), and he actually picked up the phone — partly because Zach called at an hour when things were slow and waited until the phone was answered; no voice mail here. Zach gave the VP a quick “elevator pitch”, including his background and goals. The VP referred him to another VP. Zach then reached that VP and by then, had a few names to drop, positioning himself as a referred candidate.
The new VP had Zach get in touch with a human resources recruiter in Atlanta—who was sourcing talent for the Little Rock position Zach wanted. A few weeks later, Zach secured an interview and a position.
The whole networking process took just four days, but enabled Zach to beat out thousands of other candidates.
His story can be your story
The thing is, the six degrees of separation is about people. Zach’s story is not the exception. It’s what happens when you proactively, purposefully and creatively focus your networking internally on those who can offer you a job; or know a lot of people who can offer you a job. Then your chances for interviews and landing that job are bound to ramp up a notch—or several notches!
Here’s to leads you never dreamed of!
Photo: Oseillo
