Simply Hired Blog

Finding the Invisible Job Market

Job seekers today probably realize that the online job marketplace is extremely visible and therefore, extremely competitive. Sometimes thousands of potential candidates will view a job and hundreds will apply. With competition so fierce, many job seekers may favor better in the invisible job market. 

But what is the invisible job market?  Well, it’s not another name for Diagon Alley of Harry Potter fame.  The invisible market refers to the market of job openings that never appear online, or any public job-posting site.

Here are some strategies for finding this invisible job market:

Social Networking 

If you know a specific company you are interested in, find a hiring manager or recruiter at the company to follow with LinkedIn.  Once you have found a recruiter on Linkedin then search for them on other social media sites, for example Twitter, and follow them.  Now keep a close watch on their social channels.  If they post any jobs on the social sites that do not appear on their company’s site you’ve found a hidden job!  

Another great way to tap into the invisible market is through referrals in your own network. Simply Hired's Who Do I Know® feature can help you find contacts at companies of interest to you within your Facebook and LinkedIn networks. Ask these contacts to help you set up introductions with recruiters, hiring managers, and other decision makers.  Even if the company isn’t hiring right now, making a good impression with these people may lead to hearing about a job opening before it ever gets posted.

The Old Fashioned Way 

The old fashioned way is the job hunt equivalent of a cold sales call.  But rather than calls to sell aluminum siding, you are dropping in at companies with your resume, whether or not they have any job openings.  To execute this first you will need to research the company of interest, and tailor your resume and cover letter to fit their employee requirements and culture (start by checking out previous job opening requirements and current employees’ Linkedin profiles). 

Once you’re ready to drop off your resume, identify a contact at the company (the recruiter, department hiring manager, etc.) and when you arrive request to speak with them.  If you’re lucky you’ll get the chance to talk with the contact about yourself and possible employment opportunities.  But if you are unable to speak with the contact, leave your resume and cover letter for them.  Follow up with a quick call or email, letting them know you stopped in to drop off your resume, and wanted to discuss employment opportunities.  You may get lucky and get a phone call. If you don’t hear back, you can try again in a few weeks.  Be patient with this method, out of ten drop ins, you may hear back from one.  But your go-getter approach may just get employers’ attention.

Internships and Promotions

Internships can be a great way to decide if you are a good fit for a company or a job.  They can also be a great way to land an un-posted job.  When a company recognizes an intern would be great addition to the staff, they may carve out a full-time position to keep the intern on as a full-time employee.  So, what can you as intern to improve your chances of converting to full-time?  Be respectful of the company's time, money and culture. Be sure to always go above and beyond their expectations.  Finally, demonstrate your improvements as an employee by learning new tasks and asking insightful questions. Interns who keep these tips in mind will greatly improve their chances of converting to a full-time employee.

Have you landed a job using the invisible job market? If so, share your method below.

The Class of 2012 - Our Future Workforce

Graduation is coming up quickly and a new wave of individuals will be entering the workforce. SimplyHired.com recently surveyed the graduating class of college students to get their perspective on job opportunities, post-graduation.

Still on the job search for your first job after college? Not to worry...you’re in good company. Only 20% of students surveyed last month had secured a full-time job for after graduation. The majority of new college graduates recently started their job search in the three months prior to graduation, and a confident 70% feel prepared to enter the workforce when the time comes. Internships played a part in preparing for the job search, with 68% of students reporting having at least one internship on their resumes.

When asked what was most important about a future employer, the majority of new college grads selected job security (33%) over other characteristics, including salary (23%) and healthcare and other benefits (23%). This isn’t surprising, given this year’s graduating class entered college during the height of the recession. Students also hoped for stability in their first job, with the majority (41%) planning to stay with their employers for at least a year, and another 38% aiming to stay two or more years.

Although security and stability are top of mind, the majority of respondents surveyed feel optimistic about their opportunities in the job market after college. Where will these new grads land? Seventy-eight percent of students are willing to relocate for their first job, and 29% would be open to moving anywhere! Company size is a determining factor, as the majority of students would prefer to work at small or medium sized businesses (39%), and another 27% were interested in joining a large corporation.

Check out the full results of Simply Hired’s college grad survey, along with tips for recruiters looking to hire new college grads in 10 Tips for Hiring New College Graduates.

How to Optimize Your Simply Hired Job Search

Simply Hired has 8+ million job listings. It is important to sift through the jobs to find only those relevant to your job search. You can do that through Boolean operators. However, you can also accomplish the same thing through Simply Hired's advanced search feature.

To get the advanced search click the link on the right side of the search results page.

From the advanced search page a variety of options will appear:

Keyword:

• with all the words: Use this option when you have specific words that you would like the job description or title to include. This can include skills which you have used in the past.  
• with the exact phrase: If you have a series of words that you would like to see in the job description or title input them here.
• with at least one of the words: When you have multiple skills that you are flexible on which you use include them here.
• without the words: Remove any jobs which include skills or job titles which are not a match for you.
• within job title: For if you have a specific word or title that you are interested in.
• within company name: Already know which company you want to work at? Excellent! Input your dream company in this field.

Location: To conduct a search you must have at least one keyword and/or location. If commute time is an item of consideration in your search you can change the radius to focus on one specific city.

Preferences: If you dislike moving from page to page increase the number of jobs per page. Also you can opt to change the order of the jobs to by date instead of the default by relevance.

Once you have made the search that is ideal for your needs setup an email alert to receive the jobs automatically in your inbox.

 

6 Reasons You Need to be Active on Facebook if You’re Unemployed

By Gerrit Hall

Social networks are a prime way to find a new job. Not sold? According to an infographic by Jobvite, one in six Americans actually found their last job through an online social network.

What may be more surprising to many professionals is that Facebook topped the list with the most job seeking activity (44%), followed by LinkedIn (26%) and Twitter (23%). In fact, a whopping 18.4 million Americans said that Facebook got them their current job.

Facebook isn’t just for farming your (virtual) land or posting pictures of your cat -- it’s also valuable for the following reasons:

1. It’s a prime way to keep in touch with your network. Most active users spend about 50 minutes per day on Facebook. And with Facebook mobile and apps, some people even check their notifications as they happen.

2. Employers are looking at your online presence. With the new Timeline layout of user profiles, employers can learn more about your past with a few simple clicks on different years in the side panel. Want to impress them? Include past career milestones on your Timeline to show them your value as a job candidate. Oh, and get rid of anything that may be deemed unprofessional or lock down your privacy settings to only share what you want them to see.

3. Your Facebook network is more willing to help. The people you’ve friended on Facebook probably know you better (and on a more personal level) than those you’re connected with on Twitter or LinkedIn. It’s quite likely the reason Facebook trumps LinkedIn and Twitter in job search success is because the connections you have there are much stronger than most of those in your professional networks.

4. Newsfeed delivers your update to each and every one of your friends. That is, if they haven’t hidden you from their feed! A simple update about your job search or question about a company has the possibility to spark a conversation with any one of the folks you’re connected to -- and could lead to a stronger relationship with those individuals. Heck, you might even find out that you have friends that work at one of your ideal companies or can refer you to their boss.

5. Getting job search feedback has never been easier. With the unemployment rate at a steady eight percent, it’s probable that some of your fellow friends are also on the job hunt. On the flip side, you also have friends who are part of the hiring process for their company. Use these resources! Although I wouldn’t recommend being negative in your status updates (such as complaining about a certain company who rejected your application), asking for advice or resources to better your job search can certainly lead to better results.

6. Pages and groups are primary ways to keep up with your industry. By “liking” your ideal companies on Facebook, you can receive instant updates on news and job opportunities. Following industry news outlets or blogs is also helpful in keeping up with trends and current events. Better than that, “liking” your ideal company BEFORE applying and interacting with some of their posts first, may be the best way to get an ‘in’. Companies love to hire people who are already fans of their products. I know we do!

Do you use Facebook in your job search? How has it impacted your job search success?

Gerrit Hall is the CEO and co-founder of RezScore, a free web application that reads, analyzes, and grades resumes – instantly. Gerrit has successfully combined his passion for computer science and the careers space by helping job seekers write the best resume possible. You can connect with Gerrit and RezScore on Facebook and Twitter.

Celebrate Earth Day Year Round - Get a Green Job

Did you celebrate Earth Day this past Sunday? As a job seeker, you have the unique opportunity to celebrate Earth Day all year round by working in a green job. In order to land a green job, you do not need to wear hemp sandals and enjoy hugging trees (although we’re sure the trees won’t mind). Sustainability has become a legitimate business value for the modern organization across all industries. In fact, 45,000+ jobs exist on SimplyHired.com today that are classified as green. 

How do we define these jobs as green? They are occupations that are focused on the environment and sustainability, from clean energy to green supply chains. There are many jobs at businesses that create products or services focused on the environment or conserving natural resources. Or, they can be internal positions to help a company’s processes become more sustainable or environmentally-friendly. 

A number of specific job titles have grown in this space, including:

• Environmental Compliance jobs
  • Example titles: Environmental Compliance Manager and Environmental Compliance Specialist
• Energy Efficiency jobs
  • Example titles: Energy Efficiency Engineer and Energy Efficiency Program Manager
• Environmental Program Managers
• Sustainability Coordinators

Make your next job a green job. Go to simplyhired.com/green to get started.