Let’s discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a niche network (everyone in your group knows everyone else in your group (i.e. your best friends in high school)) versus an broad network (an individual is connected to lots of people in different groups, but does not have as close of a relationship with the people in these groups (i.e. your high school class president, assuming he was also the football captain, valedictorian, lead in school play, and main drug dealer on campus)).
Assuming you could only pick one type of network, which would you prefer in your job search?
A broad network values quantity over quality. You try and collect business cards and meet people in various fields and industries. Maybe you collect contact information at industry trade shows or networking events. You know their name and perhaps have similar career interests, but not much else. You might feel confident reaching out to when a position opens up at their company, but it might be a little uncomfortable to ask them for an interview or vouch for you when nothing is available. These contacts have little to no reason to trust you other than the fact that you seemed nice upon first impression (hopefully). A broad network is much larger than a niche network, however, offering you broader search opportunities for employment.
A niche network on the other hand, values quality relationships over quantity. This network consists of close peers within your industry, former co-workers that you have bonded with, high school and college friends, etc. I would expect that many of your contacts in this group know one another as well. When job searching, you would feel comfortable asking one of your contacts to vouch for you or recommend you to their boss for an interview. They would be more willing to stick their neck out for you and put in some extra effort to help you out. However, these contacts are less broad and when you find an open position, there is less of a chance that someone in your network actually works for that company.
Obviously, you can see the benefit in having a hybrid network (niche and broad). However, if you could only have one network for your job search, I think I would choose niche. In this economy, with the amount of unemployed people vying for a very small number of open positions, I would much rather have a friend vouching for me. It may take me a while to find the right opportunity, but once it presents itself, I feel confident my network will be there to support me.
I feel that a contact in a broader network would be less likely to recommend me for a position in this economy because there is more risk involved. Companies are acting much more carefully in their hiring decisions (when and if they are actually hiring). At the same time, many employees are still worried about the security of their job. In this instance, I imagine a weak contact would not feel confident vouching for a person they have a loose connection to.
In practice: Social networking and any leveraging of your network is becoming more important in the search for the perfect job. Think about your networks and plan ahead. Don’t just connect to 1,000+ people on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can, but don’t expect that to translate into job offers. Begin to strategize who you would like in your niche network and then make it happen. Make an active effort to befriend certain contacts. Learn about their hobbies, family, career paths, etc. When a job opportunity presents itself one day, you will be better off having a stronger relationship with this contact. Knowing their name and phone number just isn’t enough (yes, I see some contradiction between this advice and my recent Stategies to acquring new contacts).
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