Networking as an information behaviour during job search. A study of active jobseekers in the Scottish youth labour market
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2019-0086 |
| Date | 27 November 2019 |
| Pages | 424-439 |
| Published date | 27 November 2019 |
| Author | John Mowbray,Hazel Hall |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Networking as an information
behaviour during job search
A study of active jobseekers in the
Scottish youth labour market
John Mowbray
Department of Social and Political Science,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK, and
Hazel Hall
Centre for Social Informatics, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Although social networks are considered influential to employment outcomes, little is known
about the behavioural manifestation of networking during job search. The purpose of thispaper is to examine
the role of networking amongst 16–24 year old active jobseekers living in Scotland.
Design/methodology/approach –A sequential, mixed methods approach was applied to gather data,
including interviews (no. of participants ¼7), a focus group (no. of participants ¼6) and a survey
questionnaire (no. of participants ¼558). The study design was underpinned by a prominent model from the
field of Information Science. As such, job search networking has been treated as an information behaviour.
Findings –The findings show that young people acquire different types of information from network
contacts throughout job search, and that frequent networking is associated with positive outcomes. This is
especially true of engaging with family members, acquaintances and employers. However, barriers such as a
lack of confidence or awareness mean that few young people make the most of their social contacts when
seeking work.
Practical implications –Careers professionals can use this knowledge to advise clients on maximising the
potential of social networks as sources of job search information.
Originality/value –A key contribution of this work is that it provides a detailed insight into a topic that has
been neglected in previous studies: that of the process of job search networking as an information behaviour.
Keywords Social networks, Information seeking, Networks, Job search, Career information,
Networking behaviours
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Sustained periods of unemployment at a young age negatively impact psychological
well-being and earning potential in later life (Mousteri et al., 2018; Strandh et al., 2014). This
is a significant issue: youth unemployment in Scotland, for example, resides at double the
rate of the general working age population (Scottish Government, 2019). One means of
addressing the problem is to improve the personal agency of young people looking for jobs,
by developing skills and competencies. Amongst these, and considered a key facet of
employability (McQuaid and Lindsay, 2005), is the ability to use networks effectively when
seeking employment.
The research presented in this paper was conceived as a means to develop job search
networking as a concept,whilst focussing on the youth labour market(i.e. 16–24 year olds) in
Scotland. To thisend, networking is explored in termsof its capacity to beget informationfor
individuals, and is underpinned by Wilson’s (1999) information seeking behaviour model.
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 76 No. 2, 2020
pp. 424-439
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-05-2019-0086
Received 15 May 2019
Revised 3 October 2019
Accepted 6 October 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
ESRC (Grant No. ED/J500136/1) and Skills Development Scotland provided the funding for this
research. Skills Development Scotland also provided the authors with some assistance in seeking
participants for the survey element of the primary research.
424
JD
76,2
Applying an information perspective to study job search networking has two main
advantages. First, it provides a theoretical grounding to the subject which is lacking in
previous studies of job search networking. Second, by applying both qualitative and
quantitative methods, it elucidates the informational role of networks in relation to labour
market outcomes. In doing so, the research presented here addresses calls from the job
search literature to develop a better understanding of how social networks assist jobseekers
to find work (Van Hoye et al., 2013, p. 15; Wanberg, 2012, p. 389).
Literature review
Network contacts as sources of job search information
The study of the information sources consulted by jobseekers –including social
networks –has been an integral theme of job search studies (Saks, 2005; Wanberg, 2012).
Informal contacts such as family members and co-workers are considered to be key sources
of networked information, and the prolificacy of these sources at relaying information that
leads to employment has been demonstrated by studies of labour markets throughout the
world. For example, Granovetter (1995, p. 140) compiled a list of surveys from countries
such as Japan, the Netherlands, the USA and the UK. Such work shows that between 25 and
75 per cent of workers in these labour markets had initially been told about the availability
of their jobs via a social contact. Franzen and Hangartner (2006, p. 357) found a similar
variation in a study of 27 different countries, with a UK figure of 31 per cent. Notably, the
focus of attention in these studies is the intersection where jobseekers are made aware of a
vacancy that leads directly to employment. As such, the wider role of network contacts
during job search is not considered.
Networked jobs and the properties of social networks
The context of “networked”jobs (i.e. jobs sourced via a social contact) has received
significant attention in social network research. A prominent strand of this work focusses
on relational structure and its impact on the diffusion of information throughout the social
system. In his seminal work, Granovetter (1973) argued that tie “strength”is crucial to such
information diffusion, and highlighted the differing properties of strong (e.g. family and
close friends) and weak (e.g. acquaintances) ties. Whilst strong ties are said to wield greater
influence on behalf of individuals due to their heightened interest in providing assistance
(Bian, 1997), they are less likely to extend into different social groupings. As such,
individuals with fewer weak ties receive less “novel”information from distant parts of the
social system, and are less likely to hear about new job opportunities.
There has been some empirical support for Granovetter’s theory. For example, studies
have shown that networked jobs are more likely to be sourced via weaker ties (Gee et al.,
2017; Granovetter, 1995; Yakubovich, 2005). Others have found that weak ties are related to
positive employment outcomes, but only for individuals with higher education levels or
those who have previously been employed in high status jobs (Ericksen and Yancey, 1980;
Wegener, 1991). However, it has also been found that strong ties are used more often for
networked jobs (Franzen and Hangartner, 2006), and are more influential for those with
lower levels of education (Ericksen and Yancey, 1980; Wegener, 1991).
Equally important to structure is the concept of social capital, which is linked to the
quality of the resources (e.g. information) contained within networks (Lin, 1999). There are
many potential indicators of social capital, such as the occupational status of social contacts.
For example, having access to more contacts with high occupational status has been linked
with job success amongst graduates (Behtoui, 2015) and re-employment rates amongst
redundant workers (Moerbeek, 2001). Conversely, individuals with a higher proportion of
unemployed people or fewer prestigious contacts in their networks face negative
employment outcomes (Gayen et al., 2010; Verhaeghe et al., 2015).
425
Scottish youth
labour market
To continue reading
Request your trial