Feature Article: Is the Hidden Job Market a Myth? A Quintessential Careers Investigative Report
Special Feature: How to Tap Into Jobs in the Unpublicized Employment Market
Bonus Feature: How to Build and Expand Your Career Network: 10 Proven Techniques
Extra Feature: Getting Started on Twitter: 25 Tips For Job-Seekers to Take Advantage of the Web's Best-Kept Job-Search Secret
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
Latest Additions: What's New on Quintessential Careers
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Editor's Note: About this Issue...
Today, June 14, is Flag Day in the U.S., and the QuintCareers team has proudly raised
Old Glory (and the QuintCareers flag) at the new world headquarters of Quintessential
Careers (and its parent, EmpoweringSites.com) in Kettle Falls, WA.
We're excited about this content-rich issue and its major investigative piece scrutinizing the existence of
the "hidden job market." We offer a guide to penetrating the market of unpublicized jobs, and we
seek to inspire you with the experiences of job-seekers who've succeeded in that market, as well as employers
who've hired without publicizing jobs.
This issue's theme is networking, and the unpublicized market is a big reason networking is so important. But
because job-seekers often agonize over how to expand their networks, publisher Dr. Randall Hansen
presents 10 proven techniques for doing just that.
In the past few years, online social media have added an important new dimension to networking, and
Susan Whitcomb offers 25 Twitter tips for job-seekers.
As we head toward summer in the northern hemisphere, enjoy this jam-packed issue.
--Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master,
Certified Electronic Career Coach, and editor at
kathy(at)quintcareers.com
Feature Article: The Hidden Job Market
Is the Hidden Job Market a Myth? A Quintessential Careers Investigative Report
Analysis by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
For years, I've been among many career experts who have explained that the number one reason networking
is so important and effective is that the vast majority of jobs are never advertised -- thus, the only way a job-seeker
can find out about these jobs is through word-of-mouth. And it's only through networking that job-seekers can
hear word-of-mouth news of unadvertised vacancies. This "vast majority" of unadvertised jobs is commonly
referred to as the "hidden job market," and published estimates of the size of this enormous cache of jobs
have ranged from 75 to 95 percent of the total job market.
Given this commonly accepted concept, I was shocked to read a 2009 statement by a respected consultant,
someone who knows the world of hiring extensively, having worked with hundreds of employers, that the
hidden job market is one of the biggest myths of job-hunting; that, in fact, it doesn't exist: "Maybe a
few thousand out of 20 million jobs are unpublished, and they are primarily at or near the C-level," said
Gerry Crispin, who with partner Mark Mehler, operates CareerXroads®, which consults with corporations in
career planning and placement, contract recruiting, executive search, recruitment advertising, and
human-resource management.
My astonishment at this statement and its implications for advice routinely given to job-seekers inspired me
to learn what other experts had to say about Crispin's assertion. With his permission, I shared Crispin's
opinion with more than 70 experts in the career-management, employment, recruiting, and hiring sectors.
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How to Tap Into Jobs in the Unpublicized Employment Market
by Kathrine Hansen, Ph.D.
As a companion piece to our main article above (Is the Hidden Job Market a Myth? A Quintessential
Careers Investigative Report), this article provides an overview of how job-seekers can break into the
unpublicized job market.
Vacancies in this market may eventually be publicized, but as career-marketing coach
Mark Hovind points out on a page on the hidden job market on his JobBait site, "most jobs (80%)
start out hidden, and only the decision-maker knows."
How to Build and Expand Your Career Network: 10 Proven Techniques
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Just about every article on job-hunting you'll read on Quintessential Careers or any other career site
says the same thing -- almost to the point of making it a job-seeker mantra: "the most effective method
for finding a new job is through networking." Listening to job-hunting gurus and career coaches results in
the same call to action -- to contact your network of contacts and enlist their help in uncovering job leads.
The problem for many job-seekers, though, is not so much in understanding the extreme importance of
networking, but in the execution of networking. More specifically, job-seekers wonder, where do all these
networking contacts come from -- and how can I get people to be part of my network? The key point to
remember is that networking is relationship-building. Your network consists of people you've met (either
in person or online) -- and you build your network by going out and meeting more people.
Find a Job, Post Your Resume -- on our Job Portal!
Even in a bad economy, there are still job postings and career opportunities!!
Go now to search for jobs, post your resume, build an online portfolio, receive career consultation,
and learn about continuing education opportunities.
Getting Started on Twitter: 25 Tips For Job-Seekers
to Take Advantage of the Web's Best-Kept Job Search Secret
by Susan Whitcomb
Twitter. There's been lots of buzz about it. Perhaps you even visited the site, created an account, or dabbled with
tweeting. Not love at first sight, right? If you're like most people, you're not alone in wondering, "What's
the point? How can this cacophonous site -- crammed with apparently tangential, disconnected information
-- possibly help my job search?"
Do keep an open mind! Although Twitter has a learning curve (as is the case with all good things),
you can find value from Day One, whether just dabbling as a NOOB (Twitter shorthand for newbie) or committing
to becoming a power user.
KODA, which calls itself the Opportunity Community, is a little like a cross between a social-media venue and
a job board. The site gets its name from a Native American word that means "ally or friend." The premise behind KODA
is that young professionals have everything they need to launch their careers except for the networks
that so many seasoned professionals count on. KODA strives to serve as a bridge to helpful networks.
From the site: "We've got hundreds of employers, from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits, looking to hire
young professionals whose talents go beyond the traditional resume. When you create a profile, we'll
use that information to help you find the right employers, and to help them find you."
KODA is intended to:
Highlight skills, personality and life experiences;
Enable users to share videos, images, and links to websites that showcase them in action;
Help job-seekers learn about an organization's culture and determine "fit" before applying for jobs;
Discover job opportunities through KODA's Explorer and Suggestion engine;
Connect users directly with employer websites to apply;
Facilitate sharing profiles, employer profiles, and job opportunities on Facebook and Twitter;
Help job-seekers get discovered by recruiters who are looking for talented young professionals;
Enable users to control privacy by deciding which information gets shared.
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HotClinicalJobs.com -- a recruiting
Website for medical and pharmaceutical jobs, including clinical research, therapy, and pharmacist positions. Job-seekers can
search job listings, post your resume, and register for job alerts. No cost to job-seekers.
ResearchJOBS -- a job site
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Shine -- a full-service job and career site
for job-seekers searching for jobs in India. You can search job listings (by keyword, location,
job function), post your profile, register for emailed job matches, and find career information
and resources as well as industry information. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Find Your Career Future. Learn More About Yourself
Career Maze is designed to help every job seeker, at every level, make smarter
career choices. Individualized to reflect your unique personality and written in
"plain English," it is thorough and easy to complete.
Once completing the assessmemt, your 2-part report includes:
A specific, career-relevant discussion of your workplace personality
A list of job types compatible with your personality
Career Maze encourages you to think about tapping your full potential to find your future.
Q TIPS:
Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search and Work Life
In a blog entry titled "Get out of the haystack (or what really works on the job hunt)" on
An Honest Day's Work, HR Consultant
Laurie Bartolo talks about the kinds of job-seekers who stood out during her recent attempt to fill a position
for which she received 500 applications in less than a week:
"Every single candidate that was granted an interview for that position had some sort of networking activity
going on that helped them get out of the haystack and get their resume noticed," Bartolo writes. Here's how
those networking efforts break down:
Several interviewees were employee referrals.
One was referred to the hiring manager by a mutual colleague.
Several contacted Bartolo directly on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Several recent hires were people Bartolo already knew because the job-seekers had networked with her.
"These candidates were hired quickly and with very little competition because they had such a strong head
start on the process," Bartolo writes.
Two hires sent her the addresses of their "very well done online sites that showcased their skills in a unique way."
Three stayed in touch with the company after being rejected for a different job.
Conclusion: Networking rules!
Here's a terrific networking technique reported by the Australian consulting firm, Anecdote:
Saga novelist Bryce Courtney keeps a notebook with the names of all the interesting people he meets and likes.
Every day he hand-writes a note or letter to one of the people in his notebook. He starts at the top of the
list and works his way through it. When he reaches the end, he starts at the top again.
Mark Hovind of JobBait.com is offering a wonderful service for job-seekers -- weekly no-cost job-hunting
workshops, with recordings available afterwards for just $20. Why such a generous offer? "We believe
that all job-seekers should have an equal opportunity to land a job that fulfils their dreams, no matter
how much they make," Hovind writes. "We help because we can, and because it's the right thing to do."
Quintessential Careers Press Announces Our Latest Book: The Quintessential Guide to
Job Search 2.0: Advancing Your Career Through Online Social Media.
The
Quintessential Guide to Job Search 2.0: Advancing Your Career Through Online Social Media,
by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., and Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., provides six chapters to guide you
through the next revolution in online job search. Since job boards, vestiges of the first
revolution in online job search, should still be part of the job-seeker's toolkit, this
book helps you navigate those while also considering the future of job boards. The book
looks at building your personal brand, teaches you to make the most of social-media venues
in the job search, guides you in creating a digital presence, suggests you consider blogging,
and discusses ways to integrate multimedia elements into your job search.
Ad: Does Your Organization Have Positions to Fill?
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Follow QuintCareers; Read the Latest Advice
Follow QuintCareers Latest Job Tips and Career News on Twitter
Also follow @KatCareerGal for regular career-related tweets.
QuintCareers Network of Empowering Blogs
What are QuintCareers empowering blogs?
The Career Doctor Blog:
Especially for those who miss our former regular feature, Ask the Career Doctor, this blog each day features a question and answer from The
Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD.
If your school, organization, business or other
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If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
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send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
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Link to Us page.
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career, and job news? Interested in learning more about Quintessential Careers?
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is your one-stop location for getting the information and resources you need.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming issues of QuintZine:
* Entrepreneurship Quiz
* Warning Signs You Won't Like Your Next Employer
* Contrasting Good and Bad Job-Search Techniques
* New Grads: Roadmap to Work and Play
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Shifts
* De-Stressing Before an Interview
* More Cover-Letter Components
* Empty Nest Job-Seekers
* How to Stay Motivated at Work
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more...
Today, June 14, is Flag Day in the U.S., and the QuintCareers team has proudly raised
Old Glory (and the QuintCareers flag) at the new world headquarters of Quintessential
Careers (and its parent, EmpoweringSites.com) in Kettle Falls, WA.
