A four-minute television segment just spelled out why so many job hunters strike out at networking, and the fix has nothing to do with collecting more online connections.
Quick Take
- LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher broke down common networking mistakes during an October 29, 2026 appearance on CBS Mornings.
- LinkedIn data cited by CBS shows 38% of hiring managers give extra weight to job candidates who come with a referral.
- Fisher is a recurring CBS Mornings guest, previously covering layoffs, interviews, and workplace conflict.
- Independent labor research backs the core idea that personal connections shape who gets hired, though access to those networks is not equal for everyone.
What Happened On Air
Catherine Fisher, a career expert at LinkedIn, sat down with CBS Mornings on October 29, 2026, to walk through the networking mistakes that quietly sink job searches. CBS titled the segment “LinkedIn career expert breaks down top networking failures,” running just under four minutes. Fisher is not a one-time guest. CBS has brought her back repeatedly to discuss the job market, layoffs, and interview prep, building her into a familiar voice on career strategy.
The short runtime means the segment worked more like a highlight reel than a deep dive. That format fits television, but it also means viewers got the headline mistakes without a full breakdown of methodology or exceptions. Still, the core message lines up with what Fisher has said in past appearances: relationships, not just applications, move job searches forward.
The Numbers Behind The Advice
LinkedIn’s own research gives Fisher’s argument some teeth. CBS reported that 38% of hiring managers surveyed by LinkedIn say they give extra consideration to applicants who arrive with a referral from someone already at the company. That is not a small edge. It means more than one in three hiring decisions already lean toward people who know somebody on the inside before they ever submit a resume.
That statistic did not come out of nowhere. CBS has featured Fisher across a string of segments tackling everything from surviving layoffs to acing interviews, each time pointing back to LinkedIn’s internal data on hiring trends. The pattern suggests LinkedIn treats Fisher as its public-facing translator, turning platform data into plain advice for everyday job seekers.
What Independent Research Adds To The Picture
Academic labor research backs up the basic claim that networks matter. Studies tracking actual hiring outcomes have found that workers who land jobs through referrals tend to stay longer and start with a modest wage edge over those hired cold, though that wage gap tends to shrink over time. Other research digs deeper into who is doing the referring, finding that referrals from strong performers tend to produce better long-term hires than referrals made just to fill a favor.
The Gap Advice Alone Cannot Close
Here is where common sense has to step in. Telling someone to “network better” assumes everyone starts from the same position, and that is simply not true. Broader research on social capital finds that referral-heavy hiring can quietly reinforce existing inequality, rewarding people who already know well-connected insiders while leaving outsiders stuck applying into the void. That is not a knock on Fisher’s advice. It is a reminder that individual effort matters, but it works best when paired with honest acknowledgment that not everyone starts the race from the same gate.
Having a strong network will “carry you through your entire career,” @linkedin career expert Catherine Fisher says.
She shares some common networking mistakes to avoid and tips for building relationships. pic.twitter.com/BeSWinkUhY
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 29, 2026
None of this undercuts the practical value of Fisher’s core point. Showing up to interviews, interviews prepared, and applications submitted only gets a candidate so far without a human connection backing it up. The sensible takeaway for job seekers is straightforward: build real relationships before you need them, because waiting until you are unemployed to start networking is exactly the failure Fisher is warning against.
What makes this advice worth trusting is its source. Fisher works inside the platform that built its entire business on professional connections, and LinkedIn’s data, whatever its limits, reflects real hiring behavior at scale. Job seekers would do well to treat her advice as a starting point, not gospel, and pair it with their own judgment about the specific industry and market they are navigating.
Sources:
cbs.com, yahoo.com, flipboard.com, cbsnews.com, academic.oup.com
