Hidden Job Market

Far too much has be written about the "Hidden Job Market" and the "Super Secret" methods of Networking your way to one of these jobs. The premise is that most, or the best, jobs are never advertised and if you personally contact and develop a massive list of people that know you are looking for a job sooner, never later, you will get insider information, and obtain one of these best hidden jobs. The secret tips also involve methods of personal contact. Some suggest that the majority of your job search effort should be spent networking because Networking is an "Active" as opposed to passive method of job searching.

Conventional Wisdom

The conventional wisdom begins with the premise that most, or the best jobs are never advertised. This "Hidden Job Market" is reached through people who know of openings, plans, and employer needs. A job seeker can locate and obtain one of these jobs by telling every person willing to talk to him/her that you are looking for a job and ask them if they have any leads and suggestions. Try and get names and contact information so you can additional people to your call list.

The rest of the insiders tips to the hidden job market also involves advise on how to generate contact lists, a contact speech, following up with you network, overcoming resistance, do's and don't for effective networking and generally some statement to the effect that this active, as opposed to passive, method of job searching is vitally important to your success.

Much of the ongoing support for this job search method stems from John Lucht's 1988 book "Rites of Passage at $100,000+...the insider's guide to absolutely everything about executive job-changing" John Lucht is a well known and respected Executive Recruiter and his book was a best-seller.

Unconventional Wisdom

Most of the information about the power of networking is old fashion, out of date and completely ignores the reality of today's job market and the growth of the internet. Personal contact networking is time consuming and this time and effort is better spent on other, more productive job search activities. This does not mean that all networking is worthless but it should be limited to individuals that are likely to know about job openings of interest. This normally means to limit your network efforts to professional or industry contacts.

In 1988 the majority of people had never heard of the internet. Personal contact networking was effective by default. Information about available jobs was difficult to find. Newspapers were the major source of advertised job openings and newspaper advertising was expensive. Many employers avoided the expense and used other methods of locating potential employees. If you wanted information about a company you had to contact the company directly or locate someone who know of the company's employment plans.

The Internet has completely changed the face of the job market and an efficient job search must adjust to these changes. Job postings and information about available jobs is not difficult to find. The Internet contains 1000's of employment sites and other sites with job postings. Large and small companies have some type of web presence and many of these sites publish available jobs. Executive Recruiters routinely advertise current and/or typical search assignments. Association web sites routinely include job information and often a resume database for members. If anything, too much information is available and it is becoming difficult to track duplicates and find the sites with the most useful information.

Internet Networking

If you want to expand your network of business and professional contacts use the internet and avoid the time and effort required with personal contact.

Industry and Professional Associations can be a major source of job information. Many association web sites contain job postings and resume databanks. In addition, they often include e-mail lists or online forums and message boards where members discuss topics on interest. These resources can be used to introduce yourself to the group and make contact with individuals who are likely to have useful information. The information might take the form of specific job information or particularly useful job sites and methods of contacting specific employers. Association sites are not difficult to find. JobMetaSeek contains a large database of associations organized by industry and profession.

E-Mail Discussion Groups or Mailing Lists are groups of people interested in a topic. Once you subscribe, you can send one email and every other subscriber will get a copy and you will get email messages from the other subscribers.

Yahoo Groups Yahoo hosts Mailing Lists and Forums on 1000's of topics. Some of the groups are private and others are open to the public. A search for "job search" recently returned 900 entries. Review the possibilities and join the groups of interest. Many of the groups directly address jobs and employment and others address issues involved in a job search.

Topica provides contact information for thousands of mailing lists. Use the search interface to find lists of interest. Many of the lists have readable archives that you can review prior to subscribing to the list.

A word of caution. Participation in an online forum or email list involves some etiquette of participation. See Peter Weddle's Networking Online, five step process to make sure that you get off on the right foot.