Trajetórias, atributos e rela es. Representa es sobre redes e obten o de trabalho

The article aims at contributing to recent analysis on how people get access to job opportunities and the role of different mechanisms mobilized on it, with special interest in personal contacts. We argue that job search decisions are grounded in individual interpretations and meanings; decisions on if and how personal networks are mobilized in the job search depend upon the ways job seeker interpret his own social and occupational trajectory and establish professional targets. Therefore research designs have to take into account the characteristics related to individual attributes, networks and trajectories, exploring how those three dimensions interact. In order to illustrate this argument, eight cases were selected from a broader research conducted with job seekers on employment agencies in the metropolitan area of S o Paulo, Brazil. The study combined two methodological approaches: in a first phase, conducted in 2004, a sample survey explored 1507 individual profiles and trajectories; in a second phase, between 2009 and 2010, a qualitative research was carried out with a subsample of 26 respondents selected among the first phase interviewees. Biographical interviews allowed collecting their occupational trajectories and mapping their personal networks.