Finding the hidden jobs is easy, and anyone can do it. This video shows you how to find as many as you want. This video was made by my dear friend and mentor, the late Mark Hovind who passed away a few months ago. Mark was the only expert in the US that aggregated numbers from the BLS/US Census Bureau to educate job seekers that there are plenty of jobs available at all job levels all across the US.

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I recently hosted a special free call titled:

Job Search Secrets For 5-and-6 Figure Professionals:
How To Overcome The 4-Biggest Hurdles Facing Job Seekers Today

Just click on this link to access this one hour info-packed call for job seekers:

http://careerartisan.audioacrobat.com/download/74d7d9a0-57c9-1643-e1a0-4d11f75990c6.mp3

Here is what I covered:

How to complete for key positions if you are over 50

How to rev up a job search if you have been unemployed for over 12-months

How to set up and manage an effective and stress free job search if you are currently working full time

How to tap the hidden job market

Plus I made two very special (time-sensitive) offers!

offer number one:

25% off my job search success system for the next 5 days – either package!

Check out the Job Search Success System here: job-searchsystem.com

offer number two:

Everyone that invests in a resume package with me thru the month of MAY will be gifted the Job Search Success System.

Feel free to spread the word!

Inspiring your success,

Mary Elizabeth

PS Questions? Call us! 830-331-9398.

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It’s simple..anyone can do it…and it’s brilliant.

Go direct to tap the hidden job market and increase your odds. I say it all the time. Why? Becuase it works!

See what one creative director dreamed up to get the immediate attention of 5 companies he was interested in working for.

He got 4 interviews – and two offers. With companies he wanted to work for. That had no advertised open positions. In a bad economy. In a struggling industry.

And he probably got a salary increase too.

Yup. Thats what I am talking about.

check it out here

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When you are setting up a turnkey job search campaign and trying to tap into the hidden job market, you may happen upon some hurdles that can stop you in your tracks, shake your confidence and cause you to doubt yourself or tempt you to settle for much less than you deserve. In my previous feature article I covered how fear, negative thoughts, perfectionistic and isolating behaviors can create sticking points for you. Here are the final four pitfalls and how you can avoid them:

Pitfall #5: Not being open to try new job search methods

In this job market you are going to have very little success if all you do is answer a handful of posted jobs.

My clients who are having success right now are the ones that are using direct mail programs, learning how to research and use strategies to tap into the hidden job market (actually quite easy) and learning about social networking.

Pitfall #6: Putting all your eggs in one basket

I worked with a client once who secured three interviews a week after I sent this client her final resume copy.

She was so excited, and I was excited for her. But when I asked her how her job search strategies were going she said she was just waiting for her immediate interviews to pan out before she did anything else. Though I encouraged her not to do this, her mind was made up.

Six weeks later all three potential job opportunities fell through and my client was left with an empty basket and the daunting task of starting all over again from scratch.

Moral of the story: keep your pipeline full and your job search activities consistent until your first day at your new company.

Pitfall #7: No Strategy

In order to be successful in your job search, you have to have a foundation of basic goals and a clear understanding of your driving motivators.

If you don’t, you aren’t going to know what to focus on or where to best invest your time and energy.

I have worked with job seekers who when they first came to me shared that they had been in “I’ll know it when I see it” job search mode for over a year with nothing to show for it.

So, know what industries you are targeting and why, what your salary goals are, your timeframe and your basic game plan before trying to move forward. You’ll be so glad you did!

Pitfall #8: Work/life imbalance

You can’t job search 8-hrs a day. Well, you can but if you do you will probably be feeling drained and burnt out in no time at all.

During a job search you will most likely be experiencing more stress than normal. It’s important that you take better care of yourself and take more time off then perhaps you are accustomed.

This isn’t a luxury! It’s actually a vital part of your successful job search.

Eat right, get plenty of rest and do plenty of those things you love to do. This way you will have plenty of energy for creativity and strategy. You will be rested, clear-headed and enthusiastic in your job interviews which will make a positive impression.

If you see yourself in any one of pitfalls, take heart and use these simple techniques to break through the hurdles so you can stay focused and confident as you move toward the career opportunity you really want.

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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.

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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!  

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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.

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