While reading the assigned articles for this class, I found the one titled "The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited" to be the most interesting. It discussed the importance of networking to get ahead in a career. It also went into the two levels of networking. The first level is strong ties. Strong ties include people who are very close to you like family and best friends. These people have similar interests and usually share a circle of friends. The next level is weak ties. These people are acquaintances and have less in common because they are part of a different group of strong ties.
The article described the importance of using weak ties to get ahead in a career. Since a group of close people (strong ties) receive the same information, they do not hear new information that may be important. This is why it is beneficial to have friends that are in other groups of people. They get exposure to information that would otherwise be unheard of.
Before reading this article I never really thought of the importance of having weak ties. Looking at my friend group, I have a close knit group of friends at home and a few close friends at school. Along with this, I have a few acquaintances that I will stop and chat with when I have the opportunity. It's the acquaintance group where I hear a lot of interesting new information from. I had never realized how much would be different if I only communicate with my close friends. I would never hear new perspectives on issues. Reading this article showed me the importance of branching out and talking to new people and how it might lead to getting ahead in a career.
I can see the importance of this article from a first-hand view point. I also have my very close circle of friends and also my girlfriend that I stay close to and can relate to. We all think alike and exhibit the same viewpoints. However, I also have my weak ties, which at times, advance my life in ways that I never thought imaginable. I will give a prime example to reinforce this statement. In high school I started working doing landscaping and grass mowing for one person from my church. This landed me a job at a framing store where I also mowed grass as well did minor frame work. My boss at this location was the treasurer for my town borough. From this job, I landed a position at a German ornament Christmas shop. The boss here was the Democratic chair for the surrounding 7 counties. From this job I landed two other landscaping positions and a busboy spot at a local fine-dining restaurant. Before I knew it, I was working over 50 hours a week doing at least 5 different jobs. Life was good, and my bank account was even better, if you catch my drift...
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