NPR presented a program Tuesday, February 8 on “All Things Considered” on how to search for jobs effectively. They interviewed folks in the recruiting field as well as hiring managers in large companies.
One contributor suggested that finding a job requires the same type of marketing as starting a new company. A recruiter with a large firm said that now 70% of jobs are not published. Even without publishing jobs, large companies receive almost 10 resumes for each position in the company, whether it is an open position or not.
So – what to do? Throughout the last few months there have been multiple articles on job seeking tips, and having watched this process I think we can boil them down to a consistent list.
First, just mailing out resumes blindly gets you nowhere. You have to have a contact to help you get a foot in the door – just to get them to read the resume! I remember getting a series of resumes, all from New York, all with cover letters in the same format. It was obvious that some recruiting firm was providing a template and probably charging for the service, but it didn’t get points with our hiring people! It was also fairly obvious the “applicant” knew nothing about our company
This brings up another point. Always do thorough research of the company you are targeting. Your cover letter (VERY IMPORTANT) should show that you know exactly what the company is about and should be able to address why you want to be a part of the team.
Your job search has to include visiting the employer somehow. If you can find a contact in your network, use it! If not – try a people search on Linked In to find contacts in companies you are targeting.
By the way, one recruiter estimated that you have to make at least 100 contacts a month in a successful search (and that doesn’t mean just dropping off a resume). Remember you are marketing yourself and so the effort compares to trying to sell an idea or product to customers. It’s tough right now, but perseverance pays off.
Here’s one idea, and a reason you NEVER burn bridges when you leave a company. One job seeker pulled up her employment history and contacted old employers asking if there was an opportunity for her. She got a job with a company she had worked for 10 years before, in a temp position! This is a good strategy for job seeker and employer – the employer has some knowledge of the applicant which helps in the vetting process.
Hard work, and sometimes depressing – but keep your head up and keep hunting!
Job Seeker Strategies
- Posted Feb 9th, 2011
- by Ingrid Baker;
- Categories: Economic Trends, For Job Seekers, Hiring Trends, Job Hunting;
- Comments: 1
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David Borton
on Feb 10th, 2011
@ 9:22 am:
The article seems to indicate that the biggest problem for job-seekers is that 70% of openings are not published. But oddly it says nothing about how to find them.