The Truth Behind the Open Job Market
Most job seekers rely on the open job market which includes job posting boards and help wanted advertisements in local newspapers to source job leads. While it appears on the surface that these search vehicles have an abundant number of job leads, the reality is that very few people secure their positions through these methods of search. Only about 5-10% of people in search find their jobs using these two methods combined. One of the main reasons it is so difficult to land a job through a job board is that the job seeker is faced with insurmountable competition and limited means to differentiate their candidacy. It’s not unusual for a hiring manager to receive over 500 resumes for one open position. With no personal relationship with the hiring authority, the job seeker is forced to rely on technology and hope that the resume they submitted for an online opportunity contains enough keywords and consistency with the job spec to garner an acknowledgement from the hiring manager. The sad truth is that the number of companies that even acknowledge receipt of the resume is under 25% and the percentage of companies that offer candidates any additional information regarding their candidacy is in the single digits.
How to Make Time Spent in the Open Job Market More Effective
So what’s a job seeker to do? Send their resume out into cyberspace, cross their fingers, and hope for the best? Absolutely not. Far too many people waste valuable hours of search time sending their resumes into a virtual black hole. If an unemployed job seeker considers their full-time job to be finding a job and an employed job seeker considers their search to be a part-time job, no more than two hours of each week should be dedicated to posting for jobs online. Candidates should be frugal with the amount of time they spend online and take advantage of time saving online search methods such as using aggregate boards such as SimplyHired, Indeed, and Jobster which cull information from numerous online boards or setting up job email alerts on several large or niche board sites.
Why There is More Opportunity in the Hidden Job Market
Once the two hours of online search is accounted for, the job seeker still has several hours per week to dedicate to the rest of their search. Most people (over 80%) find their jobs through the hidden job market, the jobs that are not posted and that are communicated word of mouth. Open positions might not be listed on job boards for several reasons. Perhaps the company once had the position on a board and was unsuccessful in finding a candidate, so they are now searching offline. Maybe the company doesn’t have the money to post online. Many companies consider their employee referral programs a better source of hires and promote the program extensively throughout the firm. Or a situation exists in the office where someone is on performance counseling and will probably be managed out of the organization in the coming months. Still other companies have policies regarding internal posting practices and make opportunities available to their current employees before looking outside for potential candidates. In some instances a company plans to expand in a particular area but doesn’t want to post online for fear of tipping off the competition regarding their future expansion plans. These are all reasons why a viable position might not be posted online.
Finding Job Leads Through Cold Call Techniques
There are two main ways to access jobs in the hidden job market. The first is to cold call into an organization and try to find a connection to the person who is capable of making a hiring decision. Approximately 10-20% of people in search find their jobs by cold calling into companies. The cold call is made regardless of whether there is an open position or not. The goal is to identify industries and companies that provide a good fit for the job seeker based on their competencies, achievements, and geography and try to gain an introduction to someone in the company to convince them that you are a person worth knowing. By proactively establishing the relationship before the hiring authority has an actual need, you increase your chances of being the go to guy once a viable position surfaces. Prospecting for a new job is very similar to sales prospecting. The difference is that in the first scenario you are marketing yourself. There are numerous ways to find leads into companies. The public library houses an abundance of company-relevant reference guides that you can use to cull valuable information about an industry, company, or decision maker. Some of the many valuable resources available include Hoovers, The Corporate Directory of U.S. Public Companies, Consulting and Consulting Organization Directory, Gold Book of Venture Capital Firms, Thomas Register of Manufacturing Firms, and the Corporate Finance Sourcebook. In addition, there are professional research firms such as FTT Research that specialize in finding decision makers within companies.
Networking Your Way to Your Next Job
The second and most successful method of sourcing jobs through the hidden job market is networking. Over 70% of people in search find their jobs through networking. Networking at its most fundamental level is information sharing and relationship building. When you network effectively, you seek out opportunities to meet new people, share information about yourself, learn about other people, and offer assistance to others whenever possible. Good networkers agree to meet with people to try to help them even if on the surface there is nothing in it for them. They open up their minds and their rolodex, share contacts and try to make recommendations in an effort to help people get closer to their personal and professional goals. Networking is not about asking for favors or asking for jobs. As a matter of fact, when you network you should never ask for a job. Doing so might make the other person uncomfortable, because they may not know of a job opening or the appropriate decision maker. Good networkers ask for information about an industry, company, or person to get one step closer to the decision maker. The problem that most people face when they network is that their circle of contacts has stagnated over the years because they have become far too comfortable within their inner circles. But it’s never too late to jump start your network and start planning for your future.
Job seekers can start to accelerate their networking efforts by first identifying people in their immediate world. This may include friends, family, members of local community or religious organizations, doctors, dentist, accountants, etc. Everyone you know knows approximately 200 other people and one goal of networking is to try to tap into the people that your acquaintances know to extend your visibility and reach and try to pinpoint others who can help you in your search. Next try to identify companies you are interested in and people who work for those companies. They don’t have to be people who do what you do; they act as a bridge between you and the people you need to meet at a company. They can offer you invaluable information about the company’s culture, how open jobs are handled, where employees hang out after hours, etc. They can introduce you to others in that company who may be one step closer to your ultimate decision maker. Excellent resources for finding members of companies you are interested in include professional associations, virtual social/business networking sites such as LinkedIn, Ryze, and Ecademy, corporate alumni sites such as CorporateAlumni.com and BrightCircles.com, and school alumni sites including those listed on your undergraduate/graduate school home page and Classmates.com.
Whether you are currently in job search or are planning for a new position or career in the future, it is imperative that you begin to tap into the hidden job market now to build relationships with people and companies that can help you secure a place for yourself in another organization in the future. Make networking an integral part of your career strategy today so you can reap the rewards of the process for years to come.
About the author: Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, (http://www.careersolvers.com ) has over 12 years of experience in career management, recruiting, executive coaching, and organizational development. Ms. Safani partners with both Fortune 100 companies and individuals to deliver targeted programs focusing on resume development, job search strategies, networking, interviewing, and salary negotiation skills.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Accessing The Hidden Job Market
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Get Your Unclaimed Money Share
According to a study made recently in the United States by financial experts, 9 out of 10 Americans should get a part of the unclaimed money. As a matter of fact, a staggering sum of money ( billions of dollars to be more exact ) from unclaimed money, funds, IRS refunds are laying around in several Government agencies, some of them are yours and you should do something about this situation, with other words, claim what you are entitled to.The Internet can help you regarding this matter, there are several trusted online records information providers that can help you reclaim what belongs to you: money, property, refunds. For example the records traces can include: holocaust victims settlement funds, missing bonds & lost saved deposit boxes, social security benefits and postal money orders, missing inheritances and abandoned properties and the list could go on.If you are wondering for how long the unclaimed funds are held then you should know that once the funds are remitted, in almost every situation, the funds are held in a perpetual trust fund ( with other words, forever ) until the owner of the funds can be found. The law is on the owner’s side because there are provisions that protect the holder from potential liability.Another question that many people ask is how do holders know when to report unclaimed property – the obligation to report & remit these funds is triggered when there hasn’t been any owner ( generated activity for a determined period of time, also known as “ dormancy period “ ).As I have mentioned in the second paragraph, the Internet is a great tool for claiming what is yours. You are probably wondering how these sites actually work, it is quite simple as a matter of fact: you just have to enter your name and address and they will trace down your financial history and find out what you are entitled to as well as the source of origin for it, source ID and other similar information. It is quite easy, anyone can do it, there aren’t any financial knowledge you must be aware of.If you don’t trust these sites you should ask yourself what do you have to lose? I will answer it for you, nothing; you can only gain by accessing these sites. Many people have no idea about unclaimed money, this is why you should exclude yourself from this category; you have some rights, you are entitled to money/property/IRS refunds, why not take what is yours?Regarding security of your personal data people shouldn’t make any problems as these sites take every precaution to protect their users/members, online and offline. Many of these sites have links to other similar sites, this is very useful because you can enter each site and then choose which one is the most suitable for your needs.All in all, using these sites is a quick and efficient way to claim what you are entitled to and more and more people should use this method for getting back what they in fact own.
Stop Exchanging Time For Money
Most people exchange their time for money. Their entire compensation package is determined by the number of hours that they work in a given week. Typically, an hourly wage is set which is multiplied by the total hours worked during that time period. The standard in this country is 40 hours with overtime accumulated after that. One's complete paycheck is contingent upon them showing up for work. Miss a day of work and there is no pay earned without sick time.Another common pay plan is a salaried position. This is similar to the hourly except the pay rate is the same each week regardless of the number of hours worked. Overtime is usually not available in this scenario. Unfortunately, most people end up working more that the normal 40 hours under this plan. Companies put so much pressure on employees to increase production that the time spent working seems to lengthen with each passing year.This is the common mindset that is instilled in all of us growing up. We are taught the we are to do well in school to get into a good college. Once there, high achievement is stressed so that we can get a good job with a decent salary. When we accomplish that, the pressure is to work hard so that we can advance to higher ranks within the organization with an associated increase in pay. Finally, we can retire after a productive career and drift off into our golden years.Unfortunately, in this era, this concept is not realistic. Although the educational system still prepares us to get a job, the lifetime employment with the same company is bygone. People typically work for numerous companies during their careers. Massive layoffs are well documented. Loyalty either from the company or the employee is almost non-existent. Oftentimes, people are caught in financial hardship due to unexpected changes in circumstances.How does one get ahead? It almost impossible to attain financial abundance when exchanging time for money. The reason is simple. There just is not enough hours in a week to work to make it profitable long term. Eventually, there is a cap on one's earning potential due to the time limitation. Couple this with the fact that taxes take a greater percentage the more that is earned and one quickly realizes that it is a fruitless proposition. The key is in the concept of passive income. Basically, passive income is money acquired without you “directly” working for it. It is income that is not an exchange for time. If work is required, it is done one time with the money flowing in multiple times. There are two forms of passive income: income derived from business and income derived from investments. Business income is the money that one receives without actually needing to work in the business. One acquires a business that is either run by someone else or is self sufficient. The profits generated are taken out by the owner thus yielding passive income.Income derived from investments is making money from money. Instead of you working for money, it is putting your money to work for you. depending upon the investment, a rate of return is realized which generates passive income. Examples of this are dividends from stocks, appreciation in real estate, interest on savings, etc... The wonderful aspect of this type of income is that the money is created regardless of one's efforts. If you don't show up for work, the income still exists. You will earn the same while at work as you would sitting on the beach. In addition, this allows one to increase their overall efforts. If your money is working while you are focusing on something else, you are, in effect, paid twice for your time. It is easy to see how it is possible to create massive wealth under this scenario.Focus your attention on creating passive streams of income. It holds the key to all financial freedom.
3 Myths About Saving Money
We are a nation of debtors. All the statistics over the past decade point to this. The savings rate is at an all-time low. At no point in our nation's history have we saved less money. At the same time, we also have used credit to supplement our spending, pushing this to an all-time high. The result is lots of people in financial turmoil. Unfortunately, part of reversing this dilemma is to begin putting some money away each week. Consistent saving of money is a habit that needs to be bred in all individuals if they hope to achieve financial independence. Of course, when you challenge people with this, they immediately begin to throw out the excuses. Some of these excuses are so prevalent that the majority of society believes them.Here are the three biggest myths about saving money that people believe in:1.I cannot afford to save money.This is absolutely not true. Everyone can save something each week/month. The reason that individuals tend to spend everything that they have is because of habit. There are numerous ways to reduce expenses so as to have a little to put away. People often claim to be spending all that comes in. This is true in most instances. However, is it not possible to bring a bag lunch one day at the cost of a few dollars rather than going out. This will save somewhere between $4-$6 each time it is done. It becomes easy to put away $25.00 a month into a savings account when this is implemented.Another aspect of savings that makes it really easy is the advent of direct deposit. Most companies offer this service to their employees. Typically, individuals have their entire pay check going into a single account-the checking account. Of course all bills are paid out of this. An easy way to alter this is to give the company a second account number. This account, a savings account, will receive a percentage of your pay; perhaps 5%. An interesting observation is that people do not even miss the money out of their checking account after a couple of weeks. It is also fun to watch the savings account grow over the course of months.The two strategies make it fairly simple to save money on a regular basis. It basically requires a commitment to develop a new habit.2. Just owning assets is the same as cash.There is an old saying 'cash is king'. Nothing can beat having a lot of money in liquid form. There is simply no substitute. People who believe that having things that are worth a lot of money is what wealth is all about are misguided. It is true that owning assets are a vital part of financial success. However, having a net worth of $1 million is not the same as having a million dollars in cash. The primary benefit of assets is the cashflow that they throw off. Many people do not work a job because their assets throw off enough cash to cover their expenses.The fallacy behind this belief is that often people do not own the assets they are referring to. Take real estate as an example. Those who claim to be wealthy when they add up the value of their properties often find themselves in trouble when market conditions change. This is because the bank truly owns the property. The mortgage needs to be paid in full before it can be considered an asset. Even after that occurs, there are taxes, insurance, and upkeep to be factored in. Also, if someone gets into a dire situation, it typically is not possible to turn real estate into cash. It is not a liquid asset. Cash is the one resource that will allow you to get through the difficult circumstances.3. Saving will make me have to sacrifice the things that I want.As mentioned, people spend more than they take in. When we factor the credit given to people, the average individual spends 110%-125% of what they earn. Obviously, that equates into a lot of interest paid over the course of time. Figuring the amount of interest of something bought on credit often runs into the thousands. Often the interest is equal to the original purchase price meaning that one paid double for the item. By saving money, one can pay for the larger ticket items such as furniture, a car, or vacations with cash. The savings in interest alone will more than pay for the 'sacrifices' you made. In reality, saving money does not hinder one's lifestyle; it actually provides freedom. Over time, you will not be without but rather enjoy more. Refrain from buying into the myths about saving money. Shattering these beliefs will allow you to begin your path to financial freedom. It is the most basic component of investing. Setting a little aside each pay period will provide the resources to attain higher rates of returns. It will also reduce the stress and pressure that is common with the financially overextended lifestyle.