Title: Building bridges to employment: the mediating role of network size and tie strength in proactive job searching

Authors: Son-Tung Le

Addresses: Faculty of Economics, Vietnam Maritime University, 484 Lach Tray Street, Le Chan District, Hai Phong City, 180000, Vietnam

Abstract: The study aims to investigate the impact of proactive personality on new graduates' networking activity for job searching, as well as how proactive personality affects networking behaviour for job searching via network size and tie strength. In order to do this, the relationships among proactive personality, network size, tie strength, and networking activity are explained using both individual difference theory and social network theory. Using the convenient sampling method, a sample of 773 graduates from various Vietnamese universities was obtained. Analysis of moment structures (AMOS) software was used for data analysis to investigate the mediating effects. Our findings showed that job seekers' proactive personalities had a positive effect on their networking behaviour. More crucially, our research revealed that network size and tie strength operate as mediators between proactive personality and networking activity, which underscores the connection between these two factors in job searches. Further discussion is given to the study's theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: proactive personality; network size; tie strength; networking behaviour; job search; individual difference theory; social network theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2025.151022

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2025 Vol.33 No.2, pp.120 - 142

Received: 22 Oct 2024
Accepted: 30 Jun 2025
Published online: 09 Jan 2026 *

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