it's not what you know but who you know

Proverb

 * 1) 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.

Translations

 * Cantonese: 識人好過識字
 * Italian: non è importante cosa conosci ma chi conosci
 * Spanish: quien a buen árbol se arrima, buena sombra le cobija