My top 3 tips for finding hidden job opportunities!
I bet you might not have known that employment studies have found that up to 80% of jobs are actually unadvertised! How can this be you might ask? Quite simply because jobs are not being posted due to the fact that companies are now using more referral programs – recommend a friend. It makes their job easier and also means that they are not getting a complete stranger walking through their doors. This of course can leave many job hunters scrambling for the jobs that have been advertised.
I am going to give you some techniques that you can use to get the inside scoop on the latest jobs
Word of Mouth Job Hunting
Networking is essential. More often than not a person will hear of a job opportunity within their company and then let people there friends and acquaintances know. This is attractive for employees of the company as there is normally a referral bonus when a candidate is successfully placed
Make a list of your “targets” Make a list of the companies you would like to work for. Then begin the deceives work. Do a company search on LinkedIn and find out who the key employees are in the company. These can be recruitment managers, department managers etc. This is easier to do than you may thing. Using LinkedIn you can ask for an introduction as LinkedIn will actually tell you who can introduce you to the person!
Think far and wide. You may think your circle of contacts is small but you have to think how people can help you, and who they might know. The teacher in your kids school may actually be married to someone who knows the manager in your target company – it’s about talking and connecting.
Networking Events. Face to face events are great, and you would be surprised how many organisations and societies have networking events. Here in Barcelona there are many ex-pat events, and after work drinks events. Use Google to find out about local business events in your area that are of interest, also check out Facebook and LinkedIn groups!
Know what to say. So you meet someone interesting and they ask what do you do. don’t hesitate, you gotta sell yourself. Make sure that you have an elevator pitch ready as you only get one shot!
Do some volunteering
If you are not currently working, doing community work is a great thing to put down on your resume. It shows that you were not stuck and home, but you were out expanding your mind and helping others. Even if you are working you can still volunteer as you would be surprised at the amount of influential people who you might bump into!
Find something you care about. Of course I don’t want you to just go out and volunteer so that you can hunt out contacts. Find something you care about and then volunteer there. If you believe in the cause you will be more connected to it and people will see how you genuinely care about it – this can only help you!
Focus on what you can offer. Many charities and volunteering organisations are crying out for people with your skills, be it accounting, social media, email marketing, event planning etc. Don’t undersell yourself and just stuff envelopes. Let them know you can offer some really valuable skills at no cost!
Build relationships. You will get no where unless you talk to people, so make sure you are meeting and greeting and shaking hands with lots of people, after all your whole reason (apart from helping) is to get known and to see if there are any job opportunities out there.
Create a value proposition
You’ve probably created tender documents, presentations and sales documents for your employer – now it is time to write one for yourself!
Create your presentation. Create a presentation about the best product out there, and that product is you. This is a great exercise to assess yourself and what you are capable of.
Seek out recommendations. Reach out to your network on LinkedIn and ask them to write recommendations for you – this is simple to do and won’t take up to much of their time. While doing this you may actually contact someone who is looking for your skills!
Have a pipeline. Let’s face it finding a new position takes time. If you are currently not working you need to make sure that you have money coming in. So take on short term contracts and or freelancing jobs. Who knows you may realise that you like this best and it pays more and end up not taking a permanent position. Once your name gets out there you may start to have more and more people asking for your services.
No matter what you need to have a clear strategy and know what you want and how to get it. Tap into the power of LinkedIn and business events to uncover those hidden jobs. The more you network the more you hear of unadvertised jobs.
To get ahead you need to get the inside track. Hopefully me 3 tips for navigating the hidden job market will be an eye opener for you and something that you will use for your next career move.