Who you know really does matter more than what you know

We’ve all heard the idea of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” and that’s very likely true. I’ve never liked that statement, as it can lead to unskilled or unscrupulous people doing work simply because of a relationship, but that’s how things often go.

As I said yesterday, relationships will reign and this is just another example of that.

A study in 2019 from Union College showed this in clear numbers:

• Fraternity membership lowers a student’s GPA by roughly 0.25 points.
• Fraternity membership raises future income by 36%.

It’s a crazy set of numbers, as they seem counterintuitive to one another.

From a Reddit discussion about this, a user summarized it quite well in terms of how it helps with future income:

If you’re looking at a stack of resumes you’re going to be drawn to what’s familiar and you’ll likely ask about it during the interview. It’s essentially a built-in ice breaker.

I had an interview a couple of years ago for a remote position, interviewer happened to go to the same little state college I did despite neither of us currently living in that state, he found that worth mentioning, we chatted for a few minutes about it and the interview was very loose from that point.

I’ve seen this happen with our agency. We recently had an open position, and one of the candidates was from Michigan (like I am) and was a fan of the Wolverines (like I am), and a 30-second discussion about that instantly made the conversation more loose and free-flowing. This gentleman didn’t end up getting the job, but the interview went much more smoothly because of the common ground that we found.

When it comes to fraternities specifically, there could be a bit of cause vs effect at play. From another user:

I do think frats give some very important networking, but I also think people from major families are likely to join the same frat that their father and his father and his father joined.

Whether we’re talking about fraternities or not, having connections to a company you’re applying to can have a huge impact on your likelihood of being hired. This could be a loose connection like your college or the state you grew up in, or it could be a direct relationship that connects the two of you.

“What you know” is certainly very important for any job, but who you know might be your best chance to show it off.