There are 4 ways to go about one’s job search. All four of the methods I am about to mention, can and should be used. However, as you will see, one of the methods has historically had a far higher percentage of success for job searchers than the other three. Even in what may be the most difficult of job markets that I have seen since I have been a career coach, (I was just entering this profession, as the job market dip of the 2008 to 2011 period was ending), I am finding clients that have had the most success in connecting with opportunities have used some format of the method we will highlight in this piece.
When most find themselves in search, they use the most popular of the job search methods, which is to respond to job postings online. This method, while time consuming, provides the job searcher the most direct method of applying for job positions for which they believe they are qualified. However, one problem dominates this method. Not only is the job searcher seeing the job opening, but so are all other job searchers. Those searchers may not only be in the job searcher’s geographic area, but anywhere in the world. An opening once posted, may receive hundreds of applicants. To assist the hiring company in finding “qualified applicants,” the use of informational technology screening tools is used to pick applicants. Once enough “qualified applicants” are selected, all other applications sit in the hiring company’s computer system. The applicant does not even receive back the courtesy of a reply that their application has not been selected.
Some applicants choose to use recruiters or staffing firms to help get their application in front of a hiring company. If the applicant is extremely qualified for the position, the recruiter/talent acquisition professional will move their application along. However, if they are not, their credentials just sit there in the recruiter’s files. Other applicants do try to take the initiative to reach out to companies themselves directly to see if a targeted company is hiring. Sometimes this approach works. It particularly works if the organization often does not post its openings, and relies on applicants to the “hidden job market” reaching out to them. Certainly, it is a better strategy than the blind online applying.
However, the method that historically has been the most successful for those in job search, is tapping into your network of contacts. Whom may those contacts be? Some may be individuals that you have met at professional association meetings, or at educational seminars for your profession. Others may be individuals from the most recent organization at which you have worked. If you have been diligent on building your network, others can be individuals that worked with you in the past, and your ways separated as each went on to different companies or opportunities in your career. A network contact can be your neighbors, friends from your religious activities, alumni from the schools you attended, and even your relatives, (immediate family members and extended family members). The individuals you have in your network may work at companies that have openings that need your skillsets, or may have fellow family members that work at those organizations. They are people who know the culture of the organization to which you may be applying, what is important to that firm, and what details you may want to present about yourself, that show you are a right fit for the opening that company possesses.
So, you may say, how do I approach someone in my network, especially if I have not spoken to them for a long time. First, look to reach out and see how they are doing at that point in their life. Then be open and indicate that you are in “job search transition,” (not unemployed), and that you are looking to identify opportunities that are right for you. Indicate you did see such an opportunity at the firm they now work. Ask about the firm and its culture. It is fine to ask if they may know about the area having the opening and if they know individuals in that part of the organization. See if your contact is willing to speak up in terms of your candidacy. They are not obligated to do so, but you will find that particularly if they feel you are a right fit for the organization, they will be willing to do so. Above all, thank them for whatever help they offer to provide to you.
Your professional network, are those professionals who know you best. They are willing to speak up on your behalf. They can alert you to opportunities that may not even be of public knowledge at that time. Additionally, if you have shown in the past a willingness to help them and others in advancing each other’s career, you wind up being a “support team” for each other. In short, they become your “raving fans”.
As I said in the beginning there are 4 ways to go about the job search process. And, while all the methods could work for you, the professional network and those who know of you has shown historically to have about a 75% rate of success of helping job searchers both identify and land opportunities. Ignoring using that approach at all, sets you up for a job search that could wind up being very long and lonely.
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I like to tell each new client that comes my way that they should not see themselves as “unemployed,” but instead in “job search transition.” Changes occur in our life all the time. Some of them are more pronounced than others, (getting married, the birth of a child in our family, moving to a new city), while others can happen more subtly. For example, in my coaching business, most of which is driven by work with outplacement organizations, the two major organizations to which I supply my coaching abilities, have undergone major revision. In both instances, the boutique specialized firms for which I worked for over a decade have been bought out by larger organizations. And, while I am still coaching, how clients are assigned to me, the way things are recorded in the records of the work I do with my clients, and the management of the firm, have changed in their style and culture.
