In 1994, Hollywood superstar Kevin Bacon claimed that he has worked with everyone in Hollywood, or with someone who had worked with them. Fast forward to the present day, and the game ‘Six degrees of Kevin Bacon’ is a well-known, light-hearted parlour game.
The idea of ‘Six degrees’ is to figure out the ‘Bacon number’ of stars in Hollywood. Bacon himself is at zero, and the ‘Bacon number’ of the actor under consideration marks the number of links you need to connect them with Bacon’s oeuvre. Though tongue in cheek, the idea is that everybody in Hollywood is linked to Kevin Bacon by no more than six acquaintances or colleagues, or degrees of separation. In most cases, it’s as few as one or two.
How do Bacon numbers help you?
In 2014, social media connection site LinkedIn introduced a ‘How you are connected’ feature to show how your profile, your acquaintances, and the places you have worked are connected with others. In a world where the phrase ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’ still rings true, knowing what connections you have with people who could help into your dream job has never been more valuable.
The feature puts you in a position to get the lowdown on companies you want to work for, add the personal touch to your approaches, and get people you know (who know people you don’t know) to vouch for you.
Want to know more about making the most of your Bacon numbers? Download our ‘How to Master LinkedIn for Business Diploma Course’, and start giving your applications the star touch!
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