It ISN'T 'who you know': Coming from a well-connected family helps get a job - but success is down to your own brain power

Connections mean a higher first wage - but brain power soon overtakes



Over time, intelligence is factor that dictates earnings and success

Coming from a wealthy background has little impact on lifetime earnings

Being able to call on the 'old boy's network' helps you get your 'foot in the door' - but has no impact on your success.

Having 'good connections' DO change your likelihood of being offered a high wage when you start - but have no impact on your eventual wage.

The provocative study is sure to infuriate those angered by wealthy groups such as Oxford's upper-crust Bullingdon Club, of which both David Cameron and Boris Johnson were members.



Oxford's Bullingdon Club today: The provocative study is sure to infuriate those angered by societies such as Oxford's upper-crust Bullingdon Club, of which both David Cameron and Boris Johnson were members

The speed of your 'rise through the ranks' is dictated largely by your own intelligence.



The study, of 2,868 Americans from 1979 through 2004, monitored earnings and promotions over the course of 25 years.



Scores were used to assess the 'socio-economic background' - wealth and connections - and standard Army intelligence tests used to assess intelligence.



Profesor Yoav Ganzach of the University of Tel Aviv says that these findings, published in the journal Intelligence, have a positive message for those who can’t rely on nepotism for their first job placements.



‘Your family can help you launch your career and you do get an advantage, but it doesn’t help you progress. And once you start working, you can go wherever your abilities take you,’ he says.

When intelligence and socio-economic background (SEB) are pitted directly against one another, intelligence is a more accurate predictor of future career success, he asserts.



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Taking into account each participant’s rate of advancement throughout the career arc, the data confirmed that while both intelligence and SEB impacted entry-level wages, only intelligence had an influence on the pace of pay increases throughout the years.

