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Weak Ties for a Weak Population: Expanding Personal Social Networks Among the Unemployed to Increase Job‐Seeking Success
Author(s) -
Sharabi Moshe,
Simonovich Javier
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of employment counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.252
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 2161-1920
pISSN - 0022-0787
DOI - 10.1002/joec.12047
Subject(s) - unemployment , the internet , psychology , interpersonal ties , population , social psychology , sociology , economic growth , economics , demography , world wide web , computer science
Unqualified middle‐aged and older unemployed people have little chance of finding a suitable job via Internet‐based systems. These individuals have a low education level, fewer technological skills, and low self‐esteem as a result of long‐term unemployment; therefore, their relevant job opportunities diminish. This article describes a successful pilot project among 108 chronically unemployed Jews and Arabs in 5 employment centers in Israel. By sharing each other's lists of acquaintances under the guidance of professional consultants, 41% of them found a job. The results have strengthened the authors' assumption that educating people to use expanded weak personal networks (non‐Internet) to find jobs is both effective and beneficial.