Most job openings are not advertised
Did you know about this?
Most jobs aren’t advertised anywhere at all.
Especially right now.
Not on job boards.
Not on LinkedIn.
Not on companies’ websites.
The era of the "hidden" job market
The pandemic that we’re currently in has created a unique global situation.
Many people are unfortunately out of work.
Many companies need to hire new employees with all kinds of companies growing in the midst of the pandemic.
You’d think that this would create an amazing opportunity for employers to nab the absolute best candidates for their job openings, by posting roles online and getting the most qualified people applying for roles and securing the best talent.
Unfortunately, many companies decide to bypass that system entirely.
Because so many people are looking for work, posting jobs online typically creates a flood of hundreds of applicants for each and every role.
So many applicants in fact that most companies simply aren’t staffed and equipped to deal with sifting through those applications to extract a qualified pool of candidates to interview.
Many companies are choosing to bypass the job posting process
What do companies do instead?
They use the good old referral system!
They proactively reach out to people already working at the company as well as family, friends and acquaintances. And they ask them if they know someone that would be great at – fill in the blanks.
Some companies even reward their employees for referrals by paying them a fee for anyone that the person refers that gets hired.
And this is how 75-80% of jobs actually get filled.
How do you tap into this hidden job market?
You may have heard the phrase “always be networking”. It’s certainly one that I heard early on in my career.
But I used to think of it as something kind of “icky”. For some reason, I equalled networking with something done for selfish reasons and in a disingenuous way.
But I later learned that networking is amazing and it’s simply connecting with other humans, it’s what we’re born to do!
Cultivating your network can feel amazing when you approach it as just that… connecting with other humans, without any attachment to what can come out of it.
When done in the way that I’m describing here, networking is a 2-way street where all parties benefit from the connection and relationship. .
And, when you’re actively looking for a new and better fit for you role, you simply let people know that.
Easy peasy! When people know what you’re looking for and what you bring to the table, they’re more likely to think of you if something comes up in their world that you might be a great fit for!
And that’s one way to tap into the hidden job market.
Making sure that you have a stellar reputation is also an important element to encourage people to recommend you. And you do that by cultivating and nurturing relationships all around you.
And, if you’re committed to securing a new position, you should also take on a more proactive approach:
- Grow your professional network – LinkedIn is of course a great platform to do this.
- Connect with people in your network: you can reach out specifically to catch up with former work colleagues and/or clients and let them know you’re actively looking for something new. They may be able to connect you with recruiters and hiring managers directly.
- Get out of your comfort zone: you can find ways to broaden your network even further by going to networking events and, there’s many virtual ones these days too. You get to meet people from many different walks of life this way.
If this is brand new to you, it can feel awkward at first.
But when you start to dip your toes into new ways of networking, you quickly learn that the vast majority of people genuinely love to help others and the entire process can be so much fun!
I encourage you to set aside some time each week to network, connect with new people and see just how much it can enrich your life, not just your career!