NETWORKING

PayScale is a website that comprises data about salaries, job searches, and business opportunities. Based off of their studies they found that “85% of open positions are filled through networking.” Online networking has been the most influential change the business world has seen in the last decade. The internet has provided a completely different platform in which people can build their networks.

Before the launch of the internet, networking consisted of a giant phone book and close primary connections. These people would include family members, friends, colleagues, and a couple of other acquaintances you may have met in a surrounding area. However today, a network can consist of thousands of people connected through online websites such as LinkedIn or Facebook.

John Scott, a social network analysis studying the affects of online networking, dove into this topic in his book. He came to the conclusion that networking creates a large number of widespread groups. These groups can contain people from all over the world. Large corporations and other business turn to these widespread networking groups when they are searching for employees. With that being said, the internet has shifted job searching completely online. Job applicants are expected to have LinkedIn profiles and have already built a large network. Corporations have the ability to search through the network groups and find the right employee that fits the company’s needs.

Because corporations have more possible candidates for their positions, it allows them to hire a more diverse employee staff. For example, Google has focused on building a more diverse employee staff and has succeeded in obtaining this goal. In 2017, only 56% of their employees were white. Minority groups like Asian and hispanic combined to round out the remaining workers. Also in this study, 31% of the current employees were female. Because of online networking, it is easier for people to build networks. Large corporations are no longer limited to a small sample size of potential employees. The larger candidate pool is leading to a more diverse and complete business environment.