Your best career contacts could be the people you barely know

For happiness at work, there are few things better than a work bestie or friendly colleagues. But sometimes the best connections for getting the next job and advancing your career are actually the people you know less well and interact with less frequently. Think of your contacts in concentric circles with you at the center. In the inner circles are people you know best: family, friends, and coworkers. In the circles that are farther from you are people known as weak ties. They are people you recognize and are friendly with, but you interact with them infrequently and your relationship is of limited emotional depth. A comprehensive study of more than 20 million people over five years published in Science found that when people had more weak ties in their networks, they had greater career mobility. They applied for more jobs and were more likely to change jobs. And the study found that loose connections weren’t just related to mobility; they were the cause of it. The people who aren’t part of your nearest circles have access to information that you and your close contacts don’t. They may know more about a certain job market or have a perspective on what it takes to get a certain ro…