Ever since the Kevin Bacon game got going, I have been amused by the six degrees of separation theory. This theory holds that everyone on the planet is connected to any single person with only six contacts:
Me->My Neighbor->His high school principal->One of his teachers grew up next to Prince->Teacher knows Prince’s sister->Sister introduces me to Prince, so I can say goodbye to Kevin Garnett. Six contacts and I get to say goodbye to Kevin. Or, I guess I could just drive by his house, since he lives nearby.
So it was especially interesting to watch last night’s TV show called Six Degrees of Martina McBride. Six wanna-be country singers from towns like Chugwater, WY, and Nowhere, NE, were all assigned the task of finding people, NO MORE THAN SIX, who would lead them to a direct introduction to Martina HERSELF. The ‘contestants’ ranged from an 18-year-old girl (”yeah, the nearestWal-Mart is an hour and a half away”) to an ex-trucker turned cowboy complete with a Sam Elliott-inspired mustache. I will spare you the exact details, but they all found a way to get to Martina. It probably helped that ABC flew each contestant and new contact to the next contact and so forth. But still.
Sam Elliott and his mustache:
It was a cute show and ended with an American Idol rip-off where each contestant got to sing for a vote at some honky tonk in Nashville. The top three vote getters got to make a demo for Sony BMG. Watch here for more news on THAT.
I learned several things watching this TV show. First, Martina grew up in Sharon, KS…waaaay smaller than my hometown of Abilene, KS. And, she was discovered in Wichita where I lived for about 3 years. Wow.
Next, the American dream is alive and well. ABC apparently picked these people out of the blue and said ok, we will make your dream come true…it was shades of winning the lottery and Extreme House Makeover, I know.  So, how can you apply these lessons in your own job search?
The concept of six degrees is valid. No matter what, you can find your way into that one HR manager you need to see, or to that career-changing interview. Next time you are a bit frustrated when you cannot get the interview you want, remember Martina McBride and her six new best friends. You can get there, too. It just takes some extra effort.
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