Get Hired! Why 80% of Jobs Are Never Advertised; Best Way to Make Sure Positions and Opportunities Find You

Image Credit: Economic Incubator / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Yesterday in my post How to Find Those Elusive Jobs or Change Careers I mentioned that 80% of jobs are never advertised. Luke asked this question in the comments:

“Great information. I had no clue that so many positions aren’t advertised.
Why on earth would they not advertise them?”

My answer got so long and is so important for job seekers to understand that I decided to publish it in this follow-up post. Read on as I explain how to make sure you get offered jobs, positions, and freelance work. 

Why Positions are Not Advertised

They don’t need to advertise jobs because they often already know who they want to hire. Many companies that do advertise positions only do it because they are required to by law or to appear unbiased – even though they know who they will be hiring before the ads run.

When there are few jobs and a bad economy it is more important
than ever to know How to Create Your Own Opportunities!

How Recruiters Find Job Candidates

Most recruiters do not advertise. They research using sites like LinkedIn to find the most qualified candidates and try to steal them away from their existing jobs. Many call this type of recruiter a “headhunter” and they are very talented and creative at what they do.

When I was with IBM I got a message from dispatch to call what turned out to be a headhunter. I asked her how she got my name. (This was long before LinkedIn and there was no resume on me anywhere as I was a career IBMer.)  She said she called dispatch and asked, ‘If we have a really tough problem and we don’t know whether it is hardware or software or the network at which of our locations, who would be able to help us figure that out?”  You have to give her points for the most creative way I’ve heard of to find top specialists.

Now they don’t have to be creative – they just have to know how to use LinkedIn because most people who get offers have comprehensive resumes there that are kept current even when they are happily employed elsewhere.

Why You MUST Be on LinkedIn

At one time, sharing your resume would offend your existing employer so if you did it you had to be very discreet and hope you could trust those who saw it. Today, having a continually updated public resume on LinkedIn is considered normal regardless of your current employment status.

LinkedIn is far better than a resume because:

• You can include details, links to projects and additional sites
• Connect with influential people in your industry (or the one you want to be involved in)
• Publicly display recommendations from well known authorities
• Make it clear what additional skills you already have

Go look at my very comprehensive GrowMap LinkedIn profile to see
all the new sections LinkedIn has added to show off your talents

People hire those they already know or who are recommended to them. They ask around to get referrals. Many corporations give their existing employees incentives to bring in new talent. What they don’t do is advertise, because they get buried in resumes from hundreds to thousands of people who are mostly unqualified.

Until solutions like RecruiterBox because available, managing all those resumes and interviews was a nightmare for small businesses. If you do the hiring, I encourage you to check them out.

LinkedIn Resource YOU Need

Go look at the LinkedIn resources I included in my post on DIRJournal and start optimizing your LinkedIn profile and connecting with those in a position to hire you. It doesn’t matter if you want to be an employee, an intern, or freelance – LinkedIn is THE place you really need to be.

If you don’t know how do NOT let that stop you. Ask for assistance in my comments or hire someone to help you. It IS that important! I can recommend LinkedIn Optimizers if you need them.

Tagged as: careers, employment, jobs, linkedin