Finding Out Where the Jobs Are
How long has it been since you looked for a job? 20 or 30 years? When you first got out of college? If you changed jobs before, the chances are that the job came looking for you; it was a great opportunity and you were actively recruited to take the job. As an older executive, you have probably met and interviewed many job-seekers over the years. You may think that you know the ropes. But-and it's a big but-the shoe's on the other foot now. You're the one who's seeking work.
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 percentages 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.
Finding Opportunities in the Invisible Market
You approach the invisible market differently from the visible market. The suggestions on networking and using your contacts provided in Chapter 3 are valid ones for approaching the hidden market. The best way to locate a hidden job is through networking-the referral of a friend or business acquaintance. In fact, some companies are convinced that the best employees they hire are those that are recommended by their own employees. Their experience has been so good that they offer employees bonuses of $ 1500 and more for recommending candidates who are hired and retained on the job after the usual trial period (say, six months or so). As an older executive, you probably have more opportunities for this kind of referral than would a younger job-seeker. Networking is generally the most fruitful when you are looking for the same type of work you've been doing and not contemplating a radical career change.
But you can approach the hidden market in other ways. None of them is easy, and all require that you expend effort and energy.
