In part one of this article, we looked at the facts and fallacies of the hidden job market including why you should consider tapping into it.

 

In part two we explored precisely how to tap into hidden jobs.

 

In our final look at the unadvertised market we will focus on three real-life stories of professionals who utilized the unadvertised market to land amazing jobs.

 

Success #1: Kay moved from Wisconsin to Memphis TN for family reasons. She didn’t know a soul except for immediate family. Instead of asking those family members if they knew of any open positions, Kay inquired about very specific industries and only asked if anyone had any resources into those industries – with whom she might call for mentoring. She quickly got the name of a professional in the education market whom she called to share she was new in town, looking at two industries and his was one of them. Kay’s contact was happy to talk with her and offer her guidance. At the end of the call Kay asked him if he knew of any one else in the industries she was exploring and he readily gave her a contact. She contacted him (a local government official) who that next week, interviewed her for a position that had not been advertised. She landed the job, received a 5k raise; securing a position in her new industry of choice. Kay achieved her goals in less than 30 days.

 

*Tip: notice Kay never asked for a job – she was really gathering research and information on her two target markets. Her contacts reached out to her by asking Kay if she would be interested in interviewing!

 

 

Success #2: Jeff had his sites on commercial real estate site selection and project management for international franchises. He located companies that fit his parameters and qualifications and put those companies that were growing fast at the top of the list. Without getting discouraged he left multiple messages for one of his company key contacts. When he finally connected with him, his contact praised Jeff for his professional yet tenacious follow up. Jeff secured an interview and landed the exact position he wanted as well as a $15k increase in his base salary.

 

 

Success #3: Kevin found an article about a growing biotech firm he was really excited about. He contacted the VP quoted in the article by sending a letter, a copy of the article he was referencing and his resume. When Kevin called to follow up the VP stated that he was flattered by Kevin’s approach and he had kept Kevin’s letter and resume on his desk in anticipation for his call. Kevin was brought in to interview for a position they created specifically for him after he impressed the VP with a marketing idea for increasing revenue. Kevin was offered a position and a lucrative commission and bonus plan.

 

 

In today’s competitive job market non traditional job search methods are more important than ever to your success. Don’t wait for positions to be advertised on job boards so you can play the “job auction game” where companies bid for the lowest price help and people are moved through job screenings like cattle!

 

Honor your commitment to obtaining the best opportunity that fits you! Show off your value, worthiness to be interviewed and your professional tenacity by taking the initiative to focus on what you want and then take action to get it! I promise you are going to be inspired by the feeling you get of actually controlling your job search and definitely sweetening the outcome in your favor.

 

 

 

 

In part one of this article, we looked at the facts and fallacies of the hidden job market including why you should consider tapping into it, why you should consider sending your resume to a company that has not advertised positions matching your skills and the level of experience you should be at in order to benefit from the hidden market.

 

Now I bet you are wondering precisely how to tap into the unadvertised market. There are three strategies to quickly get you started focusing on and finding great jobs that will never see a major job board.  

 

Tip #1: You have to have a plan

If you are going to launch a proactive job search (i.e. knowing precisely what you are looking for, then reaching out to get it) vs. a reactive job search (i.e. passively scanning posted jobs, waiting to find the one that fits you) then it’s crucial you know the following things:

 

Ø      Your primary target markets

(e.g. biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device)

 

Ø      Your primary positions

(e.g. sales executive, VP of sales and marketing, business development director)

 

Ø      Your geographic parameters

(e.g. can’t leave Minneapolis, all of US, California only)

 

Ø      Your timeline

(e.g. need a job NOW, in the next 30 days, would like to make a change in the next 6 months)

 

 

Tip #2: You have to pick three main job search strategies for tapping into your market

 

Now that you have your plan, you should be crystal clear on what you want! Here are just a few unadvertised techniques you can utilize:

 

Growing/changing or moving companies: These are companies that are expanding, merging, acquiring other companies, are rolling out new products or services or are moving. These companies that are actively changing and/or growing offer you, the job seeker, an opportunity to offer your skills and strengths in order to help them.

 

Executive Recruiters: Identify executive recruiters that are familiar with your industry and/or level of position. They often have contracts to fill positions of which the majority will never be advertised.

 

Tip 1: If you are radically changing industries, a recruiter may not be the best source for you as they will be looking for “a match.”

 

Tip 2: If recruiters are a good source for you my absolute favorite company (they have the best value and the best reputation) for resume distribution is executive agent. You can find their link on my site.

 

Direct company contact: The secret here is in the numbers. Contacting a company directly (fully knowing they probably have multiple open positions that are not advertised) is a great way to take leadership and control over your job search. Are you interested in looking at the higher education market in your state or the top organic food manufacturers in the US? Or maybe the fastest growing healthcare oriented businesses in your city? All of these “lists” are accessible to you and allow you to easily tap right into your market of focus!

 

 

Tip #3: Manage your job search like a marketing campaign

 

Once you have your plan and have determined the best place to gather your resources and your general strategy, you must make a simple plan to move forward. Depending on your timeframe, pick the hours and the days each week that you plan to invest in your next career move. Block out those times and stick to them! Honor your commitment to your job search just like you would honor your commitment to your present employer to show up on time each day.

 

During your job search activity, keep things really simple and focus on the actions you are taking, not the results! This way you can celebrate your initial “successes,” which in the beginning are the completion of each of your daily and weekly goals. The results will unfold elegantly and abundantly and you will enjoy feeling that satisfaction of success whether you are investing in marketing yourself or basking in the warm glow of landing your third or fourth interview!

 

Be careful not to devalue the importance of this tip. This strategy is one of the main points to averting thoughts of despair and feelings of overwhelm.

 

In this segment, we have learned the basic logistics of tapping into the hidden market. In our final part – part III – I will give you three real life examples of clients that have used these very strategies and share the results they achieved.

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhhhhh….the mysterious unadvertised job market.

 

I dedicate this article to all those professionals out there who have heard about the hidden market but wonder why you should concern yourself with it.

 

This is not only a topic I love because I specialize in showing my clients how to succeed in landing a job using the unadvertised or hidden market, but a topic I can talk all day about! So I am splitting this article up into small, easy to digest sections in order to bring you the straight talk about the benefits you stand to gain by using non traditional job seeking methods.

 

So lets begin with a true or false:

 

True or false: With all the jobs listed on the internet today I don’t need to concern myself with any “hidden” job market.

 

False. That is, if you care about getting more than a measly 1-to-3% response rate from the resumes you send out using major job boards.

 

In other words, did you send out 50 resumes using job boards and you still haven’t heard anything back? Well by these standards your only problem is you haven’t begun to send out enough resumes yet…yikes!

 

The good news about these stats is that there are a whole bunch of job seekers out there that just started to feel a whole lot better about themselves. The bad news is that this proves job boards are a really depressing, hard and painful way for the majority of us to land great jobs.

 

True or false: I should only answer jobs that are advertised – because I will look stupid if I send my resume to a company when I have no idea if they need someone like me.

 

False. Way back when I had my own executive recruiting firm I remember client companies telling me “we don’t have any immediate needs right now but if you find a superstar please don’t forget about us, we want to see their resume!”

 

Not only do companies always make time for people who are “superstars” (and a lot of this has to do with the way you market yourself to them) but most companies go through at least five steps to fill a position before they will post the position to a major job board.

 

Think about it: if you have a key position that just opened up in your company is the first thing you do pick up the phone and call Monster? No of course not!

 

You get on the phone to a few trusted colleagues. You look to see if anyone already on board is qualified to be promoted to it or alert your staff to refer someone they might know. You launch an intimate grass roots campaign to try and fill this position wwaaayyy before the general public is notified. And if after a few weeks if the position is still not filled perhaps you contact a related association to post the job on their member’s only job board or you contract a recruiter.

 

 

True or false: I have heard the interview process is shorter and the salary package can be significantly higher with unadvertised opportunities.

 

True! Why? Because when you pursue unadvertised jobs you are almost always talking with the company key decision-makers right from the start. You have more creativity to sell your skills and build the value of who you can be to the company. And finally because these interviews usually lack the formality of a full blown-human resource driven candidate-search, your competition is significantly lower AND the salary terms are less likely to be chiseled in stone. I have seen this play out to my clients favor time after time!

 

 

True or false. I am not “high enough up” the ladder to seek out unadvertised opportunities. The hidden job market only applies to executives.

 

False. ANYONE and I mean even if you are right out of college can enjoy the benefits of the hidden job market. These jobs are available on all levels and in virtually all industries.

 

The trick is to hone your focus so you actually achieve the results you want. (more on that later!)

 

So why should you care about the unadvertised market? Because for you, it means more job opportunities, more market leverage, less competition, shorter interview processes and bigger offers. Golly, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to keep pumping out resumes via the internet when you can have all of this control over your next career move!

 

Stay tuned for next weeks article where I will reveal powerful tips on tapping into this market yourself!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sign Up For MORE Free Career Search Tips NOW at http://www.maryelizabethbradford.com!

 

 

 

 

Most executives are excellent at what they do, but struggle to market their skills when it comes to finding and capitalizing on better career opportunities.

 

You CAN be quickly respected as a powerful source of wisdom and authority in your areas of expertise to (people in) companies that don’t yet know who you are. You can do this by communicating to them in a way that positions you as an expert in areas that match the challenges of that company. 

 

So where do you start?

 

Step One: Know where to find fr*ee sources

Fr*ee sources of information on companies that are moving and growing that is! Industries that are growing and companies that are moving and growing, being acquired, going public or launching a new product or service offering are most often primed for new company hires.

 

Sources of this information include your local weekly business journals (fr*ee online), local chamber of commerce’s and economic development associations and trade journals. Find two sources that work for you and commit to reviewing them. In committing just an hour each week to doing this, you should be able to easily find two to five interesting articles that intrigue you.

 

 

Step Two: Write a letter

Write a cover letter to each company stating why their particular situation impresses or interests you. Tell them authentically why. If they are positioning themselves to “go global” and your background includes helping companies successfully do this, then tell them so and remember to give them an example of how much revenue this generated.

 

Share that you will follow up with them to see if they would be interested in an initial conversation. Use gracious, diplomatic language to get your point across. Include in your letter a copy of the article you are referencing. You can also include your resume if you discern it’s appropriate or not. What important is that you take action to make that initial contact. If you enthusiasm is authentic they will catch that immediately and you will have maximized your potential to generate interest!

 

Are you wondering who to send your letter to? The person or persons quoted in the article are best. Don’t worry if they are top executives in the industry. Many professions believe it’s not possible to connect with the top executives of a company but in most cases this is simply not true. In fact, you can use this erroneous belief to your advantage as your approach stands to be unique to your competition! If a decision maker isn’t quoted in the article simply imagine what position you would hold in the comply and go two levels higher. Company executives are often sited on corporate websites or sites such as Yahoo finance or zoom info.  

 

Tip Three: be consistent

 

When you commit to take action using this powerful strategy to easily find growth opportunities, you are making a wise investment in yourself and your career. Make it a bold goal of yours to find and send out a certain number of letters each week. If you only sent out and followed up on two letters each week (which should take you only a few hours) you stand to generate MORE interest than if you answered 40 online job ads! That’s right! So make a commitment to yourself to be consistent each week – to quickly and easily move forward towards your goals.