Looking for a job is a marketing problem. And you market yourself partly through your resumes, letters, telephone calls and interviews. But first, you need to discover what the job market really is, then segment it to determine exactly which part of the market (which jobs) match your qualifications and interests. You must be a detective as well as a marketer. It's true that many job opportunities are never listed in the want-ads, with personnel agencies or even with headhunters. You know the reasons. The positions aren't open long enough for a public listing. They're filled by internal promotion, by people recommended by company personnel. And they're filled by applicants who keep their "ears to the keyhole," taking advantage of networking to make contacts and send in their applications and resumes before positions are even posted.
Jobs are located in two places: the visible market (positions already open and showing in advertisements and human resource department postings) and the invisible or hidden market (jobs not open but that will be opening soon because someone's retiring or leaving, the organization is expanding or new positions are being created). Or the position may not even have been considered yet. You may have an opportunity to plant the idea for the position in some executive's mind.
What percentage of jobs are filled from each market? According to some experts, the invisible market handles about 75 percent of all available jobs, with 25 percent of the jobs coming from the visible market. Others say the ratio is closer to 80:20 in favor of the hidden market. Depending upon the year, surveys conducted by various personnel magazines and journals report responses indicating that human resource departments recruit from 25 percent to almost half of their new employees through the visible market. (Note, however, that particularly in small companies, human resource departments do not recruit and hire all employees, although in mid- to large-size companies, they do recruit and screen candidates for all but the very top two or three positions.) Take your pick of the percentages. They still mean that you're going to have to try both markets.
Other Ways to Look
Outplacement Services. The outplacement specialist is a relative newcomer on the job market. Many of them are hired by companies to help terminated employees look for a job. Essentially, outplacement services are marketing services. They help you learn to market yourself. They'll help you write your resume (which may be like those of their other clients), write letter campaigns, prepare you for interviews, give you advice on your search, etc. But they do not get you a job. If you go to an outplacement service on your own, you will get help. But-and it's a big but-you'll pay plenty for it. The charges are often a twelfth to a tenth of your potential salary. And it's payable in advance, not after you get a job.
Ads in Professional and Trade Publications. Some people have had good luck advertising their availability in newspapers and in professional and trade publications. To be effective, the ads have to be well written, with a selling punch. Newspaper ads seldom draw any responses. Ads in professional and trade publications fare somewhat better. The primary disadvantage is that you can end up spending quite a bit for advertising with no results.
