Tips on how to get on the gravy train – breaching the hidden job market
Being proactive can bring you a good deal of success in life. This principle works exceptionally well in the field of job seeking, particularly with regard to gaining access to the hidden market.
The most effective techniques involve ways and means of keeping yourself fresh in the minds of as many people as possible in your profession. How can you achieve that? You will find the following tips highly effective:
- Research the market and adapt – know at all times what professions and jobs are in demand in the market. You also need to know what level of importance your profession occupies. In case the market is low for your type of job/profession, it would be good to seek and acquire allied training/ expertise. People who can multi-task with ease are highly sought after everywhere.
- Check out companies’ websites – often knowing how is the key to finding/achieving your goal in the shortest possible span of time. You are aware that above 75 percent of the jobs are never advertised and you wish to be privy to that intelligence. The best place to start is the company’s own website. In more than 90 percent of cases, the vacancies in any company are immediately posted on their website. Starting here would give you a great edge in searching and possible getting a job in the hidden market.
- Cold calls – there is a lot of power in cold calls even today. The emails have made it possible to reach anybody at anytime. You need to keep people aware that you are ready for a career move, you draw-up a crisp self-marketing letter (mailer) not longer that three paragraphs and send it to the recruiting managers of the companies you seek to join. Be careful to differentiate between the HRD Head and the recruiting manager – many times these are two different people.
- Network at grassroots level - most of the time people aim to catch the attention of the highest echelons. However, often you will get the push in the right direction from those who mind the files and office work. For example, a job has come up and the receptionist/ secretary are among the first persons in the office who comes to know about it since they usually type and circulate the memos. At this time, a slight mention of your name could be just the right break for you. Therefore, it is good to network with those who mind the office of the highest echelon officials. Treat them well, keep them on your list for Christmas and Season greetings and you will reap rich rewards.
- Become an expert – while this might not be applicable in all conditions and jobs, it is an excellent stepping stone into the limelight of the hidden job market. Organizations always need people who excel in their profession, and hence if you get a reputation of being an expert in your field, offers will seek you out wherever you are. In order to become an expert, you should always endeavor to stay one step ahead of what is the demand in the market, i.e. you should never rest on your laurels. Go ahead and train yourself extensively, take up professionals’ courses, up-dating courses, and tangent courses. Be always totally in charge in your profession. Build up a brand of being an expert.
The above tips can be further complement by your ability to stay in the news. In order to do this, you should be able to attend conferences, training programs, write articles, publish and stay on the top of things, generally speaking. This is a continuous and ongoing process which will end only when you wish to retire or fade into an ordinary professional existence.
