If You're Lost in Your Career Search, This Should Be Your Only Concern

On top of dissertations and perpetual essays/assignments, most students will now be fretting over securing internships and grad jobs for the summer.

It’s a panic that’s almost unavoidable- as everyone else around you lands that 10-week stint at a big bank or sweet grad scheme with a tasty signing on bonus, you naturally begin to feel like shit.

You panic. You hit the online job boards. You blindly apply to anything. Well, anything you think will look good to your peers and parents. 

You might land one. You’ll likely end up hating it. There’s truth in this- in 2016 a report published by Gallup, that combined research from more than 30 separate studies and included more than 1 million respondents, found that just 29% of millennials are engaged in their work. In other words, over 70% of this demographic don’t like what they do for a living. 

After a 3-month internship or 3 months into your grad scheme, in which you clock-watch and feel more and more of your soul crumble, you’re back to square one. You’re lost and back in panic mode. 

But you repeat the cycle- scroll job boards, apply-apply-apply, and kid yourself the next one will actually be the one. 

You need to stop. And instead, you need to do the following:

Talk to and meet as many ‘interesting’ people as possible. 

The reason? Something called “Weak Ties”.

In a study that dates back to the 1970s, Stanford professor Mark Granovetter was interested in how individuals who recently changed jobs or gained employment found such opportunities. At the time, it was widely believed that strong contacts and classic cases of nepotism fuelled this social trend. However what surprised Granovetter was that more than 75% of people secured new employment through contacts who were seen only “occasionally” or “rarely”. It was and continues to be “Weak Ties” that introduce people to not only new opportunities, but those that seem to fit them perfectly. 

Why is this important for students and recent grads? Well here’s my view-

Weak ties give us access to the things we're really looking for. They make us aware of dream opportunities that would otherwise remain dreams. Without weak ties, we end up being drawn towards the same conveyer belt all our friends have jumped onto. 

This is best epitomised by a conversation I had with a fellow Cambridge student during my third year. I asked her what she wanted to do career-wise. Her response: "Well I don't want to be a banker, consultant, or lawyer. But what else is a Cambridge grad meant to do?"

I'll always remember that conversation because it summed up the mindset of so many people in what's known as the Cambridge bubble.

Anyway, we are products of our environment and it’s commonly believed that we’re the average of the 5 people we spend most our time with. The problem is, if these people don’t actually share our genuine interests then we’ll not end up pursuing them.

When you leave university, you realise that despite having ‘great’ friends, most people you’ve ever associated with have been by coincidence and chance. Friendships have been built on shared humour, hobbies, cultural interests, and the fact you were in the same halls during fresher’s. That’s fine. But chances are, you’ll all actually have incredibly different professional interests. 

Those interests can’t develop or go anywhere without conversing with people who share such interests. 

That’s the strength of weak ties. They provide an environment to explore our true interests, those things we’d happily spend 40 hours a week of our lives working on. Weak ties may not share many of our other interests. But that’s fine too. They are people you (initially) build relationships with, not friendships. 

What’s more, weak ties force you to push yourself out of your comfort zone. They force you to be interesting and to become knowledgeable in the areas you wish to pursue. Your friends on the other hand, they love you no matter what- as long as you go out on a Friday, as long as you’re up for the pub quiz, as long as you can handle having the piss ripped into you. 

Our friends make us comfortable but unless they’re big dogs in Silicon Valley, they don’t really encourage us to grow or to further ourselves. 

Weak ties are usually people who like to make weak ties themselves. That means they’re in circles of opportunity. They want to know what’s going on in the industry, they want to meet people who have new ideas and perspectives. And because they hear about new opportunities and are constantly meeting new people, they do the right thing- they set up intros. 

They meet someone at an event who just so happens to be looking for someone with an experience in “X”. And they suddenly think back to that interesting guy they met 4 months ago at that talk on “X”. They then say- “I know a guy, I’ll set up an intro on LinkedIn.” 

This happens all the time. This is how people get jobs- jobs that are actually ideal for them. It’s not nepotism. It’s quite the opposite. It’s the serendipitous dynamism of subtle social networks. 

But how do you make weak ties? 

Just ask. Particularly on platforms such as LinkedIn, we now have the opportunity to reach out to and connect with anyone who shares the same professional interests as us. It may be someone who has written a noteworthy post or article. Or it may even be someone who has just commented with something that really resonates with us. 

So check these people out and view their profiles. You’ve already got a reason to contact them- 

“Hey, sorry for the out of the blue message but your post/article/comment really resonated with me. I also think that xxxxxxxxx. And just in case you’ve not heard of XXX, I think you’d be interested in this book/article/podcast/video.”

It’s as simple as that. If they respond positively, ask if they wouldn’t mind offering some advice or if they could recommend some good events to go to in the space. 

But that’s it. Keep it weak.

And repeat.

Soon enough, you’ll get that message or call about an opportunity right up your street. This is the key here. It comes to you; you don’t come for it. 

I’ve experienced this personally. Three organisations I’ve done work for in the last 18 months, along with numerous students I’ve tutored have come through weak ties. And overtime some of these ties have become good friends of mine- a real added bonus. 

Conclusion

I understand the pressure and urgency there is for students and grads to even find an internship or job in the first place. But I know of too many who have ended up jumping into things that end up being of no value and a complete waste of time. 

Time is better spent putting yourself out there by actually following your true interests. 

There’s honestly so much strength in weak ties. 

And there’s honestly so much weakness in just being a sheep. 

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Originally posted at- www.perfpsysam.com

Much of this post has been inspired by Adam Grant’s “Originals” and Meg Jay's “The Defining Decade”- I’d seriously recommend reading them.