A New Approach to Job Search

Finding a new job or changing careers is one of the top five most stressful activities we will experience in life.  To reduce the stress and effectively and efficiently find a new job requires a good plan.  This plan needs to take into account the recent upheaval in job search strategy.

The process of finding a new job has changed significantly in the last 18 months.  This is especially true for professional, specialist, and manager level personnel. Resume formats are different.  Sources for locating job opportunities have changed.  The number of people competing for jobs of all types has dramatically increased.  The number of jobs available has decreased.  Employers recruit new employees now in less familiar ways. For many who are looking for work after years of steady employment, the job search landscape is unfamiliar, confusing, and distressing.

There are two primary reasons for all this change:  The economy and technology.  The current downturn in the economy is the worst since the Great Depression.  The national unemployment rate has crested at over 10%.  The real unemployment rate, considering the under-employed and those that have given up and are no longer counted, is more like 17-20%.  Arizona has experienced one of the worst job markets in the country.  Job losses are stabilizing  but hiring historically  lags economic upturns by 6 months to a year.  Some predict full job recovery to take many years, especially in Arizona.

The other reason for change in job search strategy is the rise of WEB 2.0 technology that has spawned social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.  Social networking has enabled a new way for companies and job seekers to interact through passive recruiting and networking.  Passive recruiting is a term that recruiters use for searching resume databases and networking sites using key words to find already employed talent.

This same technology has also enabled scores of job seekers, qualified and unqualified, to flood companies with on-line applications and resumes.  The on-line job application process is now more of a lottery than a meaningful process that brings employers and job seekers together.

Consider that up to 50% of the jobs available today are not posted or advertised. This is called the hidden job market.   Why, because there is no need to post.  Social networking and employee referrals account for 60% to 70% of all jobs are acquired.  Many of the posted positions are simply ways for recruiters to "fish" for the perfect resource to fill a future hiring need.  There may not be an immediate need to fill a position so they can take their time looking for just the right candidate.

In addition, HR departments are not staffed to review the hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of applications and resumes received by desperate job seekers.  Resumes attached in on-line applications are often screened by computer to match words in the resume to words in the job descriptions.  Resumes are not reviewed by the human eye unless the word match is very high.

The point should be obvious.  The most effective and efficient way to get a new job is to network with people who know about job opportunities or who are close to the "hidden" job market.  The days of sitting on-line and applying for openings as a sole or primary strategy are fading.  The primary strategy now is networking with others to find the hidden job market and to reach hiring managers directly.

The economy and technology have rapidly changed what we used to know about searching for a new job.  By accepting this fact and adapting your job search strategy, you will have an advantage over others who have not made this discovery.

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