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| MEDIA » ARTICLES |
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| Network Your Way to the Hidden Job Market |
By Bill Holland and Anita Shuper
November 2011
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Job Search Networking Guide  |
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You’re job hunting and find yourself scrolling through job board postings. Since you need work, you apply to any and all that seem remotely fitting. From time to time you come across a posting that sounds perfect for you, almost too good to be true. It’s your dream job, or close to it, and you have all the qualifications they’re looking for. You enthusiastically reply with your best resume and cover letter, and you wait. Perhaps you follow up after a week or so. And then you wait some more.
Sound familiar?
After a while, you get discouraged and give up hope, and not just for this job. Your entire job search seems hopeless. Who’s getting these job board jobs, anyway, if not you? Are they even real jobs? Maybe they’re just “collecting” applicants for some database.
Job boards are a great for getting a pulse on the market and identifying the types of skills and experience that employers are looking for. As it turns out, they’re not so great for finding jobs. While it’s not impossible to find work through a job board, they are saturated with applicants. Even if you come across a job that matches your profile perfectly, you’re up against hundreds if not thousands of other candidates.
So while the job may have gone to someone more qualified than you, it may also have gone to someone more connected than you. Employers generally prefer to fill vacancies through referrals or known contacts. As a degree of assessment would already have been made regarding fit and qualifications, it can make the hiring process more efficient, less costly, and less risky. Posting the job online may have been a backup or an HR formality, but perhaps they already had a preferred candidate in mind. Perhaps the hired candidate accessed the opportunity not through a job board but via the hidden job market.
So, how do you become that preferred candidate? How do you access the hidden job market? By networking. Becoming active in your network will help you connect to employment opportunities even before they’re advertised. Even if the jobs you want are the ones being advertised, having a strong network may give you the edge you need to compete. It’s not uncommon for a candidate’s resume to be brought to the top of the pile with the right referral.
While you’re looking for work, it’s your job to get on the radar of key people. This includes not only hiring managers and recruiters, but also those who are well connected and can act as influencers in the hiring process. A typical way to meet people in your field is to attend networking events, conferences, trade shows and other networking functions. Cold calling is another way to build your network. Yes, this means picking up the phone and contacting someone you don’t know but who you want to know. There are also plenty of opportunities for warm connecting – this means contacting someone you might not know directly, but with whom you have contacts in common.
To build your network on LinkedIn, join groups, be active in discussions and ask for invitations to new, relevant contacts. As a networking tool, LinkedIn is designed to connect professionals and has several resources available to those looking for work, including job boards. Unlike with the mass public job boards, you’ll have a better chance of being considered for jobs posted on LinkedIn because there will be fewer applicants and your credibility will be apparent from your profile and connections.
Rarely will a job come to you. If you’re serious about landing the job you want, you have to seek it out. Go where the competition isn’t! Make it your job search goal to access the hidden job market by networking – finding out what positions are open but not advertised, which are about to become available, and even those that are not yet created. It’s not unheard of for an employer to create a job that doesn’t even exist for the right candidate. There’s no reason why that candidate can’t be you.
Click here to download the Career Transition Series guide on Job Search Networking.
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