Do Not Ask for Job Information from Your Close Friends or from Strangers: Strength of Moderate Ties in Finding a Satisfying Job

Abstract

Drawing on Granovetter’s strength of ties concept, studies have argued that the strength of job seekers’ ties to the people through whom they obtained job information makes different job search outcomes. Recent studies suggest that having both strong and weak ties within one’s job information network will engender a synergetic effect on the job search outcomes, compared to when only having either strong or weak ties within the network. Extending this argument, we demonstrate that individuals’ current job satisfaction can be optimized when they primarily obtained their current job information from the person with whom they had a medium-strength tie when they initially applied for the jobs. Through an analysis of 3,451 samples from the 2016 NASP-Citizen Survey, we found that 1) employees’ current job satisfaction is maximized if they did not receive the job information from a close friend or a stranger but from a moderately-tied person and that 2) this phenomenon is more likely to be found among employees who joined organizations recently.

Namhoon Ki

Assistant Professor
Department of Public Administration/Graduate School of Governance

My research interests include public management, state and local government, and intergovernmental relations. matter.