Page 44 - CCFA Journal - Sixth Issue

Job Market 职场分析 加中金融

2) Maintain and nurture your brand and networks. Leveraging your networks in times of need will be much easier if you’ve
maintained healthy relationships throughout. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a networking strategy and the
resilience to invest in your network relationships consistently. Recently I was discussing the importance of networks with a friend
who is a math professor. In our conversation she referenced the hypothesis of the “strength of weak ties” that really resonated
with me, this study [from the book ‘Networks, Crowds, and Markets’ – by David Easley and Jon Kleinberg] outlined that “strong
ties” represented frequent contact and “weak ties” are activated relatively rarely. The theory and research behind one of the social
experiments in the study concluded that – ‘the best job leads came from acquaintances rather than close friends’ – hence, the
‘strength of weak ties’. I am certainly not qualified to explain the science and math behind social nodes, bridges, or the shortest
paths to each node within the network; however, what can be derived from this these studies are the following:
a) We know that an increasingly large number of social interactions is happening on-line. All of our family, friends,
acquaintances, and business associations are all linked on various platforms – this is your network!
b) Maintaining strong ties requires frequent interactions which have social ramifications to the entire ecosystem of your network.
What do I mean by this? Think on past conversations that you may have had with your inner circle of friends…these are your
‘strong ties’ of whom you interact with frequently. You may say, “I want to buy a car.” To which someone within your group
may respond with… “My friend’s sister has a car she’s looking to sell.” Or “I know a guy who works at this dealership that
may give you a great price!”….these referrals are your ‘weak ties’. On social media this may play out a bit differently. You
could create a post, have your followers respond to your post that triggers more responses from their followers…this could
lead to crowd-sourcing!
c) We have to consciously re-think how we manage our social networks, paying special attention to the various forms of social
media. Gone are the pre-pandemic “networking” events where you try to maneuver a crowded room of strangers just to hand
out a few business cards. Now and in future we are participating in virtual coffees, zoom meetings and virtual conferences
with breakout rooms. Each having its own unique forms of personalized interactions.

My tips for managing your networks are

a) Your name is your brand, make sure it’s consistent across all platforms and social media. It may sound simple, however there
may be language variations, nicknames, common names etc. to consider. Rest assured that many employers will conduct
online searches to assess your reputation when considering if you are a right fit for their company and culture.
b) Be a ‘giver’…in every relationship, there is a giver and a receiver. Build your relationships with the mindset of ‘how can I be
of benefit to the person across from me’ instead of thinking about what they can do for you. As the interactions strengthen
and the relationship deepens, each party would naturally look to reciprocate. This ultimately will result in you being in a
receiver position when needed. Most importantly,
c) Cultivating a healthy network takes time, consistent nurturing of relationships and always exploring new ones. It will
absolutely put your resiliency to the test; however, the benefits are endless!
.

2) 维护和建立你的个人名片以及社交圈。如果你维持着良好的人际网络关系，那么在需要的时候利用你的人际关系会容
易得多。我想要一再强调的是，要意识到有构建人际关系的策略，并且持续投资于你的网络关系是多么的重要。最近，
我和一位数学教授朋友讨论了社交圈的重要性。在我们的谈话中，她提到了“弱联系优势” （strength of weak ties）的理
论，这让我产生了共鸣。这项研究(来自戴维·伊斯利和乔恩·克莱因伯格合著的《网络、人群和市场》一书)概述了“强
联系”代表频繁联系，而“弱联系” （weak ties）则代表相对低频的联系。该研究其的一个社会实验得出了一个结论——
“最好的工作机会来自熟人而不是亲密朋友”——因此，“弱联系才是制胜法宝”。我虽然没有资质去解释社交节点、桥
梁的概念或对社交网络中节点间最短路径背后的科学和数学做出解释，但是，从这些研究中可以得出以下结论:
a) 我们都知道，越来越多的社交互动发生在网上。我们的家人、朋友、熟人和商业协会都在各种平台上联系——这
就是你的网络!
b) 维持关系需要频繁的互动，这对你整个社交网络的生态系统都会有社会影响。这是什么意思呢? 想想你过去与你
关系亲密的朋友的对话，这些是你频繁与之互动的“紧密联系”。你可能会说，“我想买辆车。”而你关系网中
的某个人可能会这样回应:“我朋友的姐姐有辆车想卖。”或者“我认识一个车行销售，他可以给你一个很好的价
格!”....这些推荐就是你的“弱关系”。在社交媒体上，情况可能会有所不同。你可以创建一个帖子，让你的关
注者响应你的帖子，从而引发他们的关注者的响应……这可能会导致大众推送 crowd-sourcing）!
c) 我们必须有意识地反复思考如何管理我们的社交网络，特别是关注各种形式的社交媒体。在疫情前，为了分发几
张名片，你可能会在一间拥挤的房间里穿梭往来，而这种“社交”已经一去不复返了。现在和未来，我们都在参
与虚拟咖啡、缩放会议和带有休息室的虚拟会议。每个人都有自己独特的个性化互动形式。

我对社交网络的管理建议如下:
a) 你的名字就是你的名片，确保它在所有平台和社交媒体上保持一致。这听起来可能很简单，但是要把语言变化，
昵称，普通名字等因素考虑进去。要注意，很多雇主在考虑你是否适合他们的公司和公司文化时，会通过搜索你
的资料来评估你的资质。
b) 做一个“给予者”。在每一段关系中，都有一个给予者和一个接受者。以“我怎样才能对我对面的人有好处”的
心态来建立关系，而不是想着他们能为你做什么。随着互动的加强和关系的加深，每一方都会自然而然地寻求回
报。这最终会导致你在需要的时候处于接受者的位置。
c) 培养一个有效的人际网络需要时间，这一点很重要。持续地培养关系，并总是探索新的关系。它肯定会需要你的
耐心， 然而，好处是无穷无尽的!

CCFA JOURNAL OF FINANCE February 2022
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