Get a job by telling people what you want to do

Did you know?…..

Over 70% of available jobs and contracts are never advertised.  They are filled through recommendations from existing staff and professional and personal contacts of management and decision makers within the industry.

What would Bill do?

Imagine you are Bill – a company owner and need to hire a new member of staff. Would you prefer to:
(a) put adverts in newspapers and websites and attract 1,000 applicants – with a large percentage of those applicants not qualified for the job and just applying for everything that moves?
or
(b) get a targeted shortlist of, say, 10-15 great candidates from your employees, industry peers and trusted business and personal contacts?

Now what would you do?

Now imagine you are looking for a job (you may not have to imagine).  Should you spend relatively more time:
(a) reviewing newspapers and jobs listings to be the 1,001st applicant for the job?
or
(b) making sure you are meeting up with and connecting with (both online and in person) people in the industry who have access to Bill – that company owner looking to hire another great employee?
The more people you tell what you are good at and your immediate career goals the more likely it is that someone will know someone, who knows someone, who needs someone with your experience and skills. And hey presto – now you are in the targeted shortlist of  10-15 candidates rather than lost and floundering  in an email inbox as candidate number 1,001-don’t call us, we will call you.
Instead of spending 100% of your time job hunting where only 30% of the opportunities are, re-adjust your efforts to spend some time working on uncovering the 70% of unadvertised jobs.

Tips for good networking

Tell your contacts, friends, ex colleagues, ex classmates, ex customers what you want to do and why you would be good at it.
Never call someone up and ask them “If you hear of anything, let me  know”.  That is too general and they will not remember you when an opportunity comes up.  Be more specific , ask for advice, show them your list of target companies, who do they know?, could they introduce you to anyone?
Have a 90 second Tell Me About Yourself pitch read to go.  Remember it’s all about what you can do for an employer, not about what you want for yourself.

Be brave and resilient

Not everyone will be able to help you. The worst thing that can happen is that your calls don’t get returned or someone says they can’t help you. The best thing that can happen is that you can land a job you didn’t even know existed until you started to network.  Surely that is worth the effort?
 
Hilt offers one-to-one services to individuals. For more information on how we can assist with getting you the job you want, contact us.

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