I’m curious how they differ. Like I understand the differences but wondering what the difference is in switching between these two for certain situations.
友達を通してこの仕事を見つけた。
友達でこの仕事を見つけた。
for example.
The same meaning? Is one correct and the other isn’t? Just style choice?
In general, を通して feels a lot more formal than で. It’s something you might use in an article, a formal presentation and such, but not on a casual talk. It feels pretty awkward and “why are you out of a sudden talking like that?”
Other than that, I’m pretty sure there should be a lot of cases you can use で but can’t use を通して, because there is nothing で can’t do in this language, lol.
Lastly, I’ve checked my grammar book and it namely says
「によって、をもって、を通じて、を通して」は「で」と比較して文体的にやや硬く感じられます。
Which is to say that “で” is too much of a free-for-all and context-dependent particle, so specially on longer sentences, changing it to alternative expressions with a clearer meaning (such as を通して) helps on parsing the sentences and leads to better texts.
Two thoughts: If you’re going to use this way to say it, 通して sounds better to me.
Second, a more colloquial way to say the same thing would be, perhaps, 友達のかげで仕事ができました。 In my opinion, what you’re trying to say, (Which, I realize I’m only assuming–but it’s, “I found this job through a friend.”?) is best translated not word-for-word, but a bit more colloquially.