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MAGAZINE: INTELLIGENCE
The Hidden Job Market
Today, barely 40% of available jobs are
even announced in the classifieds or at agencies; the rest remain in
what recruitment specialists call the “hidden job market.” This
refers to “networks,” such as alumni or former employee
associations, all types of clubs, etc. … In short, everywhere that
word-of-mouth and personal contacts are at work.
Everyone belongs to a network, except for hermits and people who are
completely antisocial. It’s the quality of your network that will
make all of the difference. Developing your network can start in
your apartment building, in your office, among friends and
acquaintances… When you realize that most job announcements
generate an average of five hundred résumés, it is easy to
understand the importance of improving your prospects by
constructing a network.
After meeting with an endless series of career counselors and
recruitment officers, job hunters generally end up feeling lonely
and frustrated. The network that you develop should begin with your
relatives and close friends; working from this base, you can
constantly enlarge your circles. In order to develop a big network
you will have to think about adding former classmates and
co-workers, and even contacts from past jobs (such as clients,
suppliers, and partners).
Once you widely broadcast the fact that you are looking for a job,
the perfect job will not necessarily fall into your lap; rather, you
will hear a lot of advice and tips. For example, if you ask ten
people to each give you the names of two contacts to whom they would
recommend you, you are both developing and structuring your network.
Your objective is to meet the largest number of people, and to try
to select the best people from this large group. As a result of your
network, you will soon be able to multiply your number of
applications to positions that have not been publicly announced
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