The Hidden Job Market - Find Yours

Reposted from CareerAlley


hidden"Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline." - Jim Collins

So many of my posts have been about where to find a job (as you would expect). But then I started thinking, what about the not so obvious places to find a job? You've heard the usual statistics "80% of all positions are filled without employer advertising" or "80% of all jobs are filled by referral" and finally "most job seekers find jobs through networking". Now there is some truth to this (although I'm not convinced about the statistics), and you should ensure you focus on this as one part of you job search strategy (hence this post).

  • Unlocking the Hidden Job Market - This article, posted on Yahoo's Hot Jobs, not only covers the "80%" type quotes, but actually gives some pointers on how to tap into the hidden job market. The article talks about leads and contacts as well as some passive methods of tapping the hidden market.
  • Step-by-Step Plan for Using the Internet to Go "Beyond the Want Ads" - Technically speaking, the hidden market are the unadvertised jobs. But it is much broader than that as it includes leveraging who you know (even if the job is advertised). This article is by jobstar.org and provides a 6 step process to find the hidden jobs. Great tips like focusing on a target industry or focusing on a particular position. The article provides lots of great advice as well as additional links to research tools.
  • Tapping In To The Hidden Job Market - So let's get to the point, the hidden job market by any other name is networking. This article, from one of my favorite career sites Secrets of the Job Hunt, focuses on that. The article combines cold calling with traditional networking (using who you know to meet who you need to know). A very good article and certainly worth the read.
Don't forget to take a look at the Networking section of my Job Search Marketing Toolkit.

Good luck in your search.

Posted via web from AndyWergedal