Do Social Connections Really Lead to Good Jobs? Evidence from University Graduates in Three European Contexts

To what extent social connections maximizes job-search outcomes? And if so, for whom? The literature on job-search strategies reports positive correlations between personal contacts, high wages and better matches, especially for low-skilled workers. There have been, however, few attempts to explain different outcomes for different social groups. Following Bourdieu’s field theory, I examine the consequences of the use of social connections (e.g. relatives, friends and acquaintances, colleagues and classmates, and university professors) in a sample of qualified workers who have relatively more advantages for employability in contrast to their lower educated counterparts.  I test two hypotheses on the use and effects of social connections in the job search process using original data collected among university graduates during their first year after graduation.  The paper focuses on three cases, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, chosen in order to maximize variation across market cultures, institutional settings and exposure to the current economic crisis. Findings suggest that, in comparatively more adverse economic conditions, social connections lead most university graduates to non-standard employment or bad jobs, such as contingent work, low wages, and associated with job insecurity. Results also show that university graduates, although share similar credentials, are far for being a homogeneous group: upwardly mobile graduates use personal connections more often than do middle class ones, but it also produce a poorer match between qualifications and jobs.