I got this a few months back and thought that I should share it with you. Unfortunately, the source was not given to me and I ran a search to find out the source, and it was linked to Jeff Westover a contributing writer for myjobsearch.com.
So read on..
Mickey James is a good example of how a jobseeker can use information to an advantage.
Mickey had been a stay-at-home Mom for 9 years. With all of her kids in school she determined the time was right to re-enter the workforce. She got a job as a merchandiser through a casual conversation with a neighbor. The neighbor had a relative that knew a company in need of a merchandiser. Using this gathered information, Mickey took action.
She made contact over the phone, set up a meeting and within days she had a job. The job never got advertised and Mickey never got the chance to polish her resume. Hers is an everyday job search success story.
There has been a long-standing rule that a full 80 percent of jobs that are filled never get advertised. This is commonly referred to as "the hidden job market". These are jobs that get created and filled because people simply talk to each other. And chances are, you probably know someone that got a job this way.
Unfortunately, most jobseekers throw themselves into the other 20 percent of available jobs-- the ones that do get advertised. These are the jobs that cannot be filled in any other way. They are jobs that companies admit just could not be filled from within or from referrals that come to them. They are sometimes the jobs that nobody else wants-- and they are the jobs most compete for when they do not know how to network with people they know to find a job.
Some think the Internet will change the old 80/20 rule. But so far that has not proven to be true. In fact, if Forrester's report on the online job search industry says one thing loud and clear, it is that online job searching is ineffective and it has to change.
And those changes are coming. The Internet job boards, recruiters and companies everywhere are developing technology to improve results. Recent studies indicate that while recruiters are going to use the Internet overwhelmingly to find new hires, nearly 70 percent of them still prefer to hire people through networking efforts. And the changes being made by job boards and company web sites all point to technology that allows for easier connecting options with jobseekers online.
But for jobseekers this only highlights a need for new online skills and new online behaviors. Avoiding the 20 percent of the job market where most compete for jobs will mean networking online as it is effectively done offline.
About the Author
Jeff Westover is an Internet Content Developer based in Salt Lake City. He has 15 years of executive level experience in personnel and project management. Jeff writes for myjobsearch.com, the largest independent directory of online career resources.
