Why a popular job search strategy is overrated for some job-seekers
When he was a college student, Owen messaged over a hundred people to ask to talk to them about their job openings and to sell himself as a good fit. He developed strategies for how to search LinkedIn to find the right people to talk to, spreadsheets to track who he messaged, and files to document the research he did on each firm so that he’d know what to say.
He had internship and leadership experience. He was driven and smart.
None of the people he reached out to hired him. Most didn’t give him an interview.
Owen’s story goes against the advice many college students receive, especially those vying for business positions: network, network, network.
I observed dozens of professionalization events at a mid-tier business school and followed over 60 students over two years as they searched for jobs. During this time, I witnessed the disconnect between the messages students received and how they actually found jobs.
I heard professors and recruiters tell students to constantly network since they don’t know where their next job might come from. Introduce yourself to your classmates; one of their parents might be hiring. Don’t wear ripped clothes to play pick-up basketball; you might meet a hiring agent on the basketball court. Don’t swear at a tailgate; you never know if someone there might hire you if you present yourself appropriately.
I heard career services officers and professors tell students to attend formal networking events. It’s important to show up; one of them might hire you.
I heard them tell students to do what Owen did: reach out to unknown professionals by finding them on LinkedIn, messaging them, and asking for an informational interview or to learn more about the position. Doing this, you might not only learn about the job; you might get one.
But Owen wasn’t the only one for whom this advice didn’t work. Dylan went to as many of his university’s networking sessions as he could, introduced himself to professionals there, and told them about his experience. His efforts didn’t get him a job. “Never actually works, as far as I can tell,” he said.
In fact, hardly any of the students I followed received jobs from cold-calling strangers, networking events, informational interviews, or chance encounters outside of the business school.
Why did the advice students receive so often fail?
The idea that students will find jobs from quick meetings with strangers is based on a series of shaky assumptions. It’s based on the assumption that students regularly run into people who are hiring, or that when they reach out to professionals, they’ll be in a position to hire them. If they do talk to someone who is hiring, the networking-with-strangers idea presumes that a short encounter will be enough for the hiring agent to remember them and want to push their résumé to the top. It also hinges on the idea that hiring agents will invite them in after learning little about the student, even passing over others for them. And this view forgets that the same hiring agent may have met dozens of other students, and their colleagues on the hiring committee may have as well. Put all of this together, and it’s not surprising that this strategy rarely leads to jobs.
There are better ways college students can find business jobs.
Students often receive jobs by applying to positions posted on their university’s job board and attending their university’s career fairs. These companies want to hire students from that university, increasing students’ chances.
Students also receive jobs from people already in their lives, those who are willing to go to bat for them and who can vouch for their abilities. Parents, family friends, older friends, and internship bosses all help students find jobs.
Owen and Dylan eventually did find jobs, Owen through the help of his internship boss, and Dylan by applying on his university’s job board. But they could have saved a lot of time and disappointment had they reached out to strangers less.
So, should you network with strangers to find a job? It depends on the industry you want to enter and the college you come from. But, in many cases, there’s no harm in doing so, but also no harm in sitting it out.