Last month’s published findings from researchers at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and LinkedIn stirred up sensational headlines, surprised many professionals on the platform, and will have significant implications for job seekers in today’s hyperconnected and digital labor market.
**If you haven’t seen any of the headlines about this research yet, I’ve listed some relevant media links at the end of this article.
This sweeping study looked at 20M+ people on LinkedIn over five years, and used a feature of the LI platform—the People You May Know (PYMK) algorithm—to test a well-known social science theory originating in the 1970’s called the "Power of Weak Ties." LinkedIn’s blog summarizes the recent research as follows:
“To test the weak-tie theory, researchers studied random variations in the prevalence of strong and weak ties in the professional networks of more than 20 million LinkedIn users, driven by adjustments to the platform’s People You May Know algorithm. Subsequent job applications, hirings and the connections between candidates and hiring companies were analyzed for the groups with greater exposure to strong-tie recommendations, versus the groups with more exposure to weak-tie recommendations.”
And the results were remarkable. In fact, the research findings not only upheld the weak-ties theory, but the study also underscored the importance of a very specific type of networking for today’s world of work.
Bottom line, the Data Science researchers found that networking with your MODERATE TIES, those people with whom you have multiple mutual connections (at least two and up to 10), should be the focus for networking during a job hunt, because you’re more likely to land a new position via these connections than any others!
In fact, connecting with moderate ties appears to be the “Goldilocks” of effective networking. According to the research, this is because your strongest ties tend to lead to an “echo chamber” of information. And while your weakest ties do increase information flow, they do so only up to a certain point, after which there are dwindling returns.
That’s where your moderate ties come in to play...they’re connected enough to you through multiple people to be willing to engage with you, and removed enough from you to have access to information you don’t have!
IMPLICATIONS
While the findings from this large-scale study are insightful, the research is not without its detractors. For example, critics have captured media headlines over recent weeks by questioning LinkedIn’s testing of the PYMK feature without disclosing it to their users; and some have expressed concerns regarding LinkedIn sharing experimental data with third party researchers.
Certainly, these concerns are worthy of further examination, yet there are additional important implications that have been underreported.
Notably, since effective use of the PYMK algorithm leads to increased employment outcomes, it can have significant impact on access to opportunities for LinkedIn’s 850M+ users, and beyond.
Yet, according to the research, less than 5% of monthly LinkedIn users even viewed their PYMK recommendations list, and typically only the first five connections listed were seen by 50% of those who use the feature!
As an Executive Career Coach, having taught thousands of professionals to leverage LinkedIn, I can attest to this. In fact, the vast majority of users that I’ve coached don’t realize this PYMK feature even exists, nor understand precisely what it is when they see it, let alone how to leverage it for networking.
And why should they? There’s no obvious guidance about what this feature is or how to effectively use the algorithm to their advantage within LinkedIn.
I would argue that LinkedIn users shouldn’t require a PhD in Data Science to understand how to leverage a feature of the platform as critical as PYMK. Especially when leveraging LinkedIn to grow their employment opportunities is one of the main reasons they’re likely on the platform to begin with.
Thus, if LinkedIn’s algorithms are having such a significant impact on access to employment opportunities, then I believe the company has an obligation and an opportunity to inform and educate its users as to how these algorithms work, and how to leverage them effectively while networking. Additionally, offering information about the effective use of PYMK would benefit LinkedIn by encouraging increased engagement and connectivity on the platform, and lead to a more robust network.
TOP TIPS FOR MAXIMIZING MODERATE TIES
While the LinkedIn platform is bursting with articles, posts and opinion pieces about how this new research provides evidence for the importance of effective networking, there is very little, if any, specific guidance for job seekers as to how to use the “People You May Know” feature effectively.
So, here are four key tips on how to leverage PYMK:
1) Review your PYMK recommendations—located on the right-hand side of your Profile page, as well as on the “My Network” page view. Explore the recommended people by clicking on their profiles to explore for mutual connections.
2) Look for moderate ties—those people that the PYMK algorithm recommended to you with multiple mutual connections (the study indicates between 2 to 10 mutuals are ideal).
3) Request to connect—reach out to these moderate ties via LinkedIn InMail by lightly referring to your shared connections in your message to create a “warm lead” and request to connect.
Example Outreach to Moderate Ties
Hi Name,
You popped up in my "People You May Know" recommendations & I see we share several mutual connections. I also appreciated your recent post about your job search experience & I always enjoy connecting with like-minded people in the Coaching field to exchange new ideas.
Looking forward to further connecting!
4) Follow up to network—After your connection request is accepted, you can follow up with a thank you message indicating your interest in meeting (via phone, Zoom, coffee, etc.) for a quick conversation.
Example Follow Up
Hi Name,
Thank you for responding--it’s nice to connect with you! I’d love to learn more about you and the work you do – would you have 20 minutes available for a virtual coffee in the next couple of weeks? If so, feel free to suggest a time that works well for you.
As you do this, please keep in mind that the right connections are better than a large number of connections. It’s okay to be discerning about who you want to reach out to, and don’t feel obligated to reach out to everyone just because they're listed in your PYMK recommendations!
Now it’s your turn. Go try out these Top Tips to connect with your moderate ties and let me know how it goes! And definitely feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn...
**Here are some relevant articles on the research:
Harvard: Looking For a Job? Some LinkedIn Connections Matter More Than Others
Scientific American: A Massive LinkedIn Study Reveals Who Actually Helps You Get That Job
LinkedIn: Using "weak ties" to aid your job hunt: what a giant study can teach us
New York Times: LinkedIn Ran Social Experiments on 20 Million Users Over Five Years