it's not what you know but whom you know
it's not what you know but whom you know is the alternative form of it's not what you know but who you know.
Meaning of it's not what you know but who you know
Proverb
it's not what you know but who you know
- For success, and especially to obtain employment, one's knowledge and skills are less useful and less important than one's network of personal contacts.
- Eighty-four students referred to political influence as a disadvantage of federal employment with such remarks as: "There are too many political connections necessary . . . it's not what you know but who you know—in spite of apparent merit systems."1951, G. P. Bush, L. H. Hattery, “Federal Recruitment of Junior Engineers”, in Science, volume 114, number 2966, page 456
Questions about it's not what you know but whom you know
- What is it's not what you know but whom you know the alternative form of?
- It's not what you know but whom you know is the alternative form of it's not what you know but who you know.
Words near it's not what you know but whom you know in the dictionary
- it's not over until the fat lady sings
- it's not the meat, it's the motion
- it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion of the ocean
- it's not the whistle that pulls the train
- it's not what you know but who you know
- it's not what you know but whom you know
- it's not what you say but how you say it
- it's not you, it's me
- it's nothing
- it's on
- it's only a matter of time
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: it's not what you know but whom you know (page history and authors); it's not what you know but who you know (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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