With a Little Help from my Networks : Connecting Graduates to Jobs in Kenya

After school, Kenyan graduates struggle in a labour market that does not offer enough employment opportunities. Some graduates search for years, get disillusioned, and give up ever finding formal employment. Some find jobs, but not necessarily in the field of their profession, and possibly below their qualification. Kenya invests in and accumulates human capital that is untapped or even lost. One way to improve one’s job search is the use of personal social networks. By applying social network and social distance theories, this study explores the conditions under which networks can become helpful to a jobseeker. Personal experiences of young Kenyan graduates were used to find out about their job search strategies and their social networks. Insights from recruiters’ perspectives about recruitment processes offered a wholesome view on how jobseekers get connected to jobs. The main data sources were online interviews and an online survey. The findings suggest that a network’s willingness to help might depend on level of reciprocity, that many jobseekers do not have access to helpful networks, and that the ability of a network to help might be restricted due to level of influence or applicability. The study concludes that a combination of various job search strategies offers the best chances to connect a jobseeker to a job, but also that companies need to adapt their recruitment processes in include people who are less connected.