Business professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway shared some career advice for young people struggling to find a job during a recent appearance on Shane Smith’s Vice News podcast, emphasizing how networking and personal connections remain critical to a long and successful career.
During the interview, Galloway highlighted the stark mathematics of modern job searches. “Google puts out a job opening, they get 200 CVs within like eight minutes. They limit it down to the 20 most qualified. Seventy percent of the time, the person they pick is someone who has an internal advocate,” he said.
The advice from Galloway, a marketing professor from the NYU Stern School of Business, aligns with extensive research on hiring patterns. Studies show employee referrals, while representing only 6% to 7% of job applications, account for 37% to 45% of successful hires across various industries, underscoring the importance of making connections. You never know who might be able to help you get your next gig.
The social imperative
Galloway’s advice seems deceptively simple: If you want a great career, you need to make connections in the real world first. “The way you [achieve professional success] as a young person is you go out, you make friends, you drink, and at every possible opportunity, you help that person out,” he said, also recommending speaking well of others behind their backs and positioning yourself to be remembered when opportunities come up.
“You want to be placed in rooms of opportunities when you’re not physically there,” Galloway said, emphasizing effective networking creates advocates who will recommend you for positions even when you’re not actively job searching.
The professor drew parallels to high school social dynamics to illustrate his point.
“The most successful people in high school aren’t the best looking [or] the best athletes, they’re the ones that like other people the most. The kid who says, ‘Hey, you know, great game, Brett,’ or ‘Wow, way to go on the basketball team, Lisa.’ The person who shows the most goodwill and like toward other people is the most popular, successful person in high school,” he said.
Research backs up Galloway’s assertion. Referred candidates are 40% more likely to be hired than those sourced through other means, and people hired through internal referrals tend to perform 25% better and stay 70% longer than employees hired through traditional job boards.
This advice extends to current workplace trends around working remotely versus returning to the office. As you might expect, people who go into the office have a clear advantage as they’re able to be more social with colleagues. According to a 2021 study from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics, young professionals working remotely are 38% less likely to receive promotions compared to their office-based counterparts.
You can watch the full interview with Scott Galloway and Shane Smith below.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on October 7, 2025.
