Organizational Behavior

When Is It OK to Use Connections to Land a Job?‌‌

Laura Adler

New research co-authored by Yale SOM’s Laura Adler explores how people reconcile conflicting beliefs about the roles of social capital and merit in the job search. Their results show that widely held attitudes about when it’s acceptable to make use of connections can help perpetuate inequality.‌‌

An illustration of hands holding up résumés
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Podcast

Learning Through Experience

In this new season of the Learning Through Experience podcast, we’re digging into something that resonates deeply with everyone right now: facing uncertainty. In a time marked by political shifts, social upheaval, and personal challenges, uncertainty isn't just a backdrop—it’s the environment we’re all navigating. But rather than viewing it as something to endure or escape, Heidi invites listeners to explore how we can learn our way through uncertainty, finding meaning, resilience, and even growth in the process.

In these episodes, you’ll hear from a diverse range of guests who bring their own stories, insights and perspectives on what it means to confront the unknown. From personal transformations to organizational shifts, from the micro to the macro, we’ll explore how facing uncertainty can become a catalyst for learning—inviting curiosity, fostering grit and shaping new ways of being.

Importantly, this isn’t a deep dive into the science of uncertainty or a prescriptive guide to resilience. Instead, it’s an open, accessible exploration of the human experience. Heidi and her guests will reflect on the felt, emotional dimensions of navigating the unknown—those moments when clarity feels just out of reach, and yet, something new begins to emerge.

Learning Through Experience has always been about more than just facts; it’s about the journey of discovery. This season, as we face uncertainty together, we hope to uncover not just how to survive it, but how to grow, connect and find meaning along the way. Welcome to Season 4. We love having you here.

Learning Through Experience is produced through the Yale School of Management.

All Episodes

  • Mapping Our Social Worlds

    Marissa D. King

    Prof. Marissa King’s interdisciplinary approach to network science has produced new insights into how people interact and ideas spread. Her new book, Social Chemistry, explains how an understanding of social networks can help solve issues faced every day by individuals, organizations, and societies.

    Marissa King teaching in a classroom

  • How to Keep Your Sense of Purpose While Working Remotely

    Amy Wrzesniewski

    Yale SOM’s Amy Wrzesniewski, an expert in how people find meaning in their jobs, says that working remotely can diminish our sense of community and structure—and offers suggestions for staying anchored.

    A cat sitting next to a laptop on a sofa

  • What Allies Should Know about Interracial Communication

    Cydney Hurston Dupree

    A majority of White Americans say that the Black Lives Matter movement has prompted them to have conversations about race. We asked Yale SOM’s Cydney Dupree, who has studied how people from different racial groups communicate with each other, what her research says about the dynamics of the current moment.

    Demonstrators march in St. Anthony, Minnesota, on July 6, 2020, the fourth anniversary of the murder of Philando Castile. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images.

  • Online and Off, We Are Drawn Toward Those with Similar Writing Styles

    Balázs Kovács

    Both online and in-person friendships are more likely to develop between people who have similar linguistic styles, according to a new study co-authored by Balázs Kovács at Yale SOM.

    An illustration of overlapping profiles

  • Faculty Viewpoints: The Evolving Workplace

    In an online event, Yale SOM faculty members discussed the sudden transformation of the workplace forced by COVID-19 and the potential for more lasting change.

    A man working from home with a dog in his lap

  • Three Questions: Prof. James Baron on Why Performance Reviews Aren’t Working 

    James N. Baron

    We asked Yale SOM’s James Baron about the research on the effectiveness of annual reviews and what a better method might look like.

    A graphic of a manager providing feedback

  • For U.S. Army, Improving Mental Health Care Meant Breaking Down Barriers Between Teams

    Julia DiBenigno

    The study suggests that for many organizations, assigning professionals from one team as points of contact to members of another—while they still maintain close ties to their own peers—may help resolve conflicts.

    Soldiers boarding a transport plane

  • Three Questions: Prof. James Baron on Amazon’s New Minimum Wage

    James N. Baron

    We asked Prof. James Baron, an expert in human resources and labor markets, what Amazon’s $15 minimum wage would mean for workers there and at other companies.

    An employee at an Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Photo: Bess Adler/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

  • Three Questions: Prof. Marissa King on the Cost of Loneliness

    Marissa D. King

    There is increasing evidence that isolation has a powerful negative effect on health and productivity. We asked Yale SOM’s Marissa King, an expert on social networks, how we can reinforce the connections that help sustain us.

    An astronaut in space

  • The Agony and Ecstasy of the Gig Economy

    Amy Wrzesniewski

    Should the so-called gig economy be called the roller coaster economy? Yale SOM's Amy Wrzesniewski, an expert in how we experience work, investigated the lives of independent workers and found that they experience dramatic emotional highs and lows.