Job Referrals/Hidden Job Market

[coolio]

Hi guys

I recently read that over 70% of all available jobs are not even advertised.

That is quite a sizeable market to be hidden! Would that include referrals or more positions only made available to existing or executive employees?

I've been looking at other job websites, other than the usual suspects (www.seek.com.au) like www.oneshift.com.au and www.hoobetter.com and wondered if they were even worth using or if my energy was better spent on the big guys and networking and contacting recruiters?

Cheers

[B007]

Will follow as well. As everybody says that most employers do not consider people not living in Australia

[rozellem]

My SIL is starting her second job secured through the people she exercise with, no interviews! Yes, like anywhere there is a hidden job market and it counts if you get out there and meet people. You never know where it will lead.

[HansaPlease]

It's still worth applying for jobs on SEEK, etc, and hoping you get lucky, until you have a network to build up. My first job was found on SEEK, but then my second and third both came from existing clients and previous colleagues.

When an opening comes up at work, the first thing we do is check internally if somebody knows somebody who can do the job or would be a good fit. People we've worked with previously and been impressed by. We only go external or public if we can't think of anybody.

In fact, the guy who sits next to me has replaced me twice! When I left my last role my manager asked if I knew of a good replacement, and I suggested this guy... Fast forward a year, I got promoted, and so we poached him from our competitors to replace me in my new role as well! It's actually quite incestuous! Just on Friday I called a girl I hadn't seen for 2 years - we had an opening come up and I knew she would be great. Had she accepted, she literally would have been hired within a day of the job opening coming up, and no interview!

The one piece of comfort that I can give to those who get disheartened by the high number of candidates out there that you have to compete against for jobs (if you don't have a network) : Don't be too disheartened because there are so many terrible applicants out there, If you're any good, you should find a job eventually.

I'm serious though - some of the resumes we get through the door are hopeless, and some of the interviewees are really bad. Our IT Manager tells me that 1 in 100 resumes that make it on to his desk, only 1 is usually somebody he would consider. So as long as you're relatively human, you will get there!

Edited January 18, 2015 by HansaPlease

[SurferMan]

Must agree on both the crap CV's and the hidden job market. This is the 1st time I been on seek since 2009/10. Even so I have work lined up, but only for later this year with a large client. The job is mine, they are just doing the business ace etc. No adverts etc, I will walk in when they are ready.

[Jasper]

It's a really tricky market at the moment. I secured a job before arrival by contacting companies directly and selling myself (one month before arrival) and just got lucky.

I've also gone for interviews from applications via Seek, but my wife has had 0 luck so far. She's a recent graduate with very little work experience in her new field, although has a degree, an internship under her belt - but it's a tough market. Both of our CV's have been spruced up in the Aussie style (by an HR pro).

We're hoping somehow to get her even a casual job as a sales assistant somewhere for a bit of extra bucks. We also have no connections here so it's hard! Slowly slowly catchy monkey and all that.

[monsta]

Just because a job isn't advertised doesn't mean that recruiters aren't involved. Recruiters only advertise the good jobs, when too many people apply they keep the CVs on file. When a job comes up they will call people from their file.

They are looking for obvious matches. Yes, companies dislike paying recruiters. So, recruiters rely on your CV being an exact match to the job advert. That puts pressure on the company to interview the person.

A few years ago just before the GFC a recruiter could earn really good money. I am talking $150 000 per year. That's company executive level pay. That encouraged too many people to get into recruitment. Now there are too many and they spend their lives beating the system instead of checking out people thoroughly.

[Jasper]

Subsequent to the post - my wife is now employed! It all came from making connections with people. We met some people, chatted - and she got a call, was asked to come in and was hired on the spot, to start the next day! Circumvented the whole hiring process because she was headhunted. Had we not gone out, talked to people and "pressed the flesh", so to speak - she wouldn't have been hired.

And I managed to get a job early on, because I went out there and contacted the places I wanted to work, and told them to hire me - that was the month before we left SA. One of them listened, and I was employed!

The job market is tough, but there are jobs. It's all down to how you intend to get them. We were happy to pick fruit if we had to - thankfully it didn't come to that though.

[ottg]

.....how networking eventually works in your favor! This obviously counts for any career!

http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/news/tips-help-mid-level-engineers-land-their-next-job