When you see job search success statistics you can understand why being strategic is important. Here are the worst and best methods to look for work. (Richard Bolles – What Color is Your Parachute?)
Worst Methods
Advertised jobs online 1-4%
Printed media 5%
Private agencies and recruiters 5%
Mailing/faxing resumes (broadcasting) 7%
Specific trade journals 7%
Employment or union offices 8-14
Best Methods
Asking social and education contacts for leads 33%
Dropping-in to a company 47%
Proactive job searching alone 68%
Proactive job searching with a group 86%
Very little strategy is needed for the worst ways to locate work. But for every one of the best ways to locate work strategies are needed to prepare the kind of approach that will stand out, get noticed and result in an interview and subsequent job offer. Any successful business person or athlete will confirm this to be true in relation to their success.
“The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can’t let yourself be beat because of lack of effort.”
Michael Jordon
From the statistics above you can see being proactive means pursuing opportunities through leads, contacts and labour market information rather than by advertised postings alone. Yet this is where most people spend little time. Most job seekers spend most of their time looking for work by reviewing what is posted on job sites and by online recruiters. Firstly, the jobs found online are being pursued by many people and the competition is stiff. Secondly, the jobs founds online do not represent the opportunities in the labour market. Many people view online postings and are quite discouraged about what they see and believe what is posted represents the strength and/or opportunities for their career aspirations. This could not be more wrong!
In fact 80% of the opportunities are not even posted simply because employers do not need to post jobs to find good people. In fact, they largely avoid trying to find people through online postings, even though they may post positions. Hiring through advertised job postings has proven to be costly, time consuming, frustrating and often results in unsuccessful hiring and low employee retention. On the other hand, employers have many hiring successes through finding people through their network, employee referrals and by entertaining job seekers that approach them the right way at the right time. This is the hidden job market!
As you consider what I have just said, think about how you found the best job you have ever had or the last job you have had. Did you obtain them through an ad or through a referral, contact or connecting with someone through a friend or relative. If your job search experience has only been through job ads, then take the time to ask five friends and you will see many people around you have benefitted from the hidden job market, even when they were not even trying to. It is alive and well!
If you are going to access employment successfully, you will have to be strategic. To be clear, being strategic is not about sitting at the computer, surfing for job ads in your pajamas and sending out applications as you sip on your chai latte! The “pajama job search” cannot boast of as many successes as reaching out to network contacts and companies of interest. In order to perform this kind of successful job search there are some strategies that will be needed. They are:
1. Determine your career focus.
2. Set some goals with timelines.
3. Build your personal brand.
4. Research 20 companies.
5. Make contact for information or employment interviews.
6. Track your progress.
7. Only apply to a small percentage of postings.
8. Follow up with contacts.
9. Re-evaluate your strategies and efforts.
10. Interview for and obtain employment.
It is not unusual to feel uncomfortable trying new strategies and reaching out to people you do not know. But always keep in mind, this is the way most employers find people successfully. If you approach them politely, professionally, with passion you will be viewed as the kind of person they are typically trying to find when they are looking for staff.
So don’t just look for work haphazardly, casually or comfortably. Be strategic and enjoy the successes of a proactive job search!
Some of the above information is covered in Step Three of the Sauder Career Success Cycle. There you will find many resources to get you going. In addition, you can attend the Career Workshops specifically designed for DAP students. The last session on February 5th covered this very topic and was the third of seven sessions to help DAP students create a momentum that will help them have career success. The next session on March 12th is on Building Your Brand and will give information on how to prepare your paper documents to help you in securing a successful career. You can register on COOL. Good luck!
Russell Garrett is the Owner of Protocol Business Solutions a Certified Career Consultant and your DAP Career Coach. He is currently delivering one hour workshops from January to April and is applying the steps of the Sauder Career Success Cycle specifically to DAP students along with other advanced concepts. He can also be reached at dapcareersupport@sauder.ubc.ca to arrange an online career appointment.