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Friday, October 30, 2009

What is the Hidden Job Market?

What Is The Hidden Job Market?

The Hidden Job Market is the name given to all the opportunities out there that are unadvertised, either because a company wants to find candidates through its employees' networks or because no such position currently exists. In the last case, you must depend on your own ingenuity to identify potential opportunities at an intriguing company, do your homework to determine what that company truly needs, then figure out how to create an attractive, value-added position. Finally, you need to “sell the concept.”

How Do You Access It?

Due to the sheer volume of applicants competing for a fixed number of positions, many employers don’t even bother registering their openings on big-name job boards like Monster, Dice, and CareerBuilder.

Instead, they turn to their existing employee network to help recruit qualified candidates. This means there may be great opportunities at a company of interest, but you’ll never find out about them via the traditional approach of querying Internet job boards.

Why would an employer do this? There are two immediate advantages. First, hiring managers can avoid the torrent of paperwork from job seekers who aren’t even remotely qualified for a position. Second, they can bypass the registration process with the job boards and confine interview time to a bare minimum.

There's something else you need to know about The Hidden Job Market. Step 2 of the 7-Step Job Search Methodology is based on the spot market. In other words, it uses today's market conditions to determine what positions are currently available. By contrast, The Hidden Job Market is based on the futures market, that is, the potential for positions that might exist or that could be created in the future — your future.

The Role of Networking in The Hidden Job Market

You’ve built a network of trusted relationships. But why bother to network if you never plan to leverage it? It’s now time to do some asking because you’ve earned the right to do so. You’ve followed the rules and observed the connection protocols. It’s time to tap your network’s connection horsepower to help you find a position.

In order to set you up with the proper mind-set for exploring the Hidden Job Market, I’d like you to consider the following somewhat offbeat illustrative scenario:

Let’s say you’re a surgeon who has been assigned the task of finding and removing a dangerous tumor somewhere in the lower abdomen of a 52-year-old man. Theoretically, you could start performing exploratory surgery right away, reaching in through various incisions to feel for any lumps or masses that don’t belong there.

But is that really a medically sound practice? Before performing surgery, wouldn’t it be better to gather as much information about the soft tissue in the patient with a CT-Scan or an MRI? Wouldn’t these diagnostic procedures give you far greater intelligence about the size, shape, and precise location of the tumor? And wouldn’t it make much more sense to have all of the diagnostic work completed before the first incision is ever made?

The point is this: While investigating the Hidden Job Market, your primary function will be networking, not selling, and your aim is to gather intelligence from those individuals you’ve identified as being reliable but only in the specific area in which your skills are a precise match. Your job is to connect with individuals who can truly help you because they’re in the same industry, not going on some fishing expedition inside industries that have no relevance to yours.

To put it in slightly different terms, it’s not going to do you any good to tap into a pipeline of business intelligence for the pharmaceutical industry if you’re seeking a position as a tax accountant. You need to refine and refine again the “filtering” of your contacts to make sure you’re picking up intelligence for the industry — and, if possible, even the precise niche — in which you want to work.

Your ultimate goal is to answer two very specific questions:

1. Who does what you do?

2. Who hires people who do what you do?

Once you’ve mastered this “precision targeting” technique, the flow of your conversation will be along these lines:

“Where do you see the industry heading? What’s going on? What’s hot? What’s not? What groups should I belong to? This is what I’m hearing; what are you hearing?”

Finally, when you judge it to be the correct time to do some asking, you must do it as an assertive CEO, not a spineless wimp. It must be a direct request for a specific action to achieve a targeted goal. Don’t worry, you’ve earned the right to ask because of your golden reciprocity track record. Furthermore, most business owners appreciate direct, straightforward requests.

Best wishes and keep networking alive,

Rod Colón, CEO & Founder

Business and Career Coach

Empowering Today's Professionals (ETP) Network

732-367-5580

http://rodcolon.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/rodcolon

http://www.linkedin.com/in/rodcolon

www.etpnetwork.com

rod@etpnetwork.com

6:21 pm | link

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Keith Ferrazzi Tip 187 - What You SHOULD Have Done Last Time You Were in Line at the Grocery Store

Tip 187 - What You SHOULD Have Done Last Time You Were in Line at the Grocery Store
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A common reaction I get when I teach people my relationship system is, “My schedule’s already busy! Now you want me to fit in all these pings and calls and meetings and dinners and…?”

Here’s my top tip for making these activities fit inside the schedule you already have – no add-ons!

Use your taxi time. We all have wasted time slots; the grocery store line is another. They’re wasted because we’re not prepared to use them. So carry around your contact lists; dedicate that “free time” to texting, email, calling, and tweeting.

Check out my other four time-management tips for relationship building on the blog - they'll help!

And tell me: How about you? What are your favorite time-management techniques? I’ll be gathering comments to include them in an upcoming webinar, so make sure you include your full name and web site link, if you have one. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Warmest,
Keith

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5:11 pm | link

Monday, October 19, 2009

Whine & Dine Networking Spotlight on Fox News

One of the organizations that the Career HelpDesk recognize as a leader in the networking field is the Whine & Dine Networking Group.

They were featured on Fox News last week.

Click Here to see the video.

The Career HelpDesk will be participating in the inaugural Whine & Dine event tonight in Toms River NJ.

Check out www.whineanddine.org for more details.

11:05 am | link

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Jobs are hard to come by

See the below article on Job competition.

Link to article

1:39 pm | link

Salary Negotiations: How to Do It in Today’s Economy By Robin Ryan

Salary Negotiations: How to Do It in Today’s Economy

by Robin Ryan

With so many people looking for work and unemployment so high, you may think you should not try to negotiate salary with a new employer.It is true that today’s employers are often beginning with a low ball salary offer, but many hiring managers do make the 2nd offerif a candidate seems unwilling to accept the first one on the table.

Here’s a key career management fact to keep in mind: the biggest salary increases almost always come from changing jobs and moving on to a new company. Some of my clients have secured 20%, 30%, even up to 50% higher than the old job by using savvy negotiation techniques. Even in this tougher economy, employers are open to negotiating salaries and paying more than ever. Many hiring managers say they must pay more to get the right talent and many are doing just that. The employer sees a lot of applicants but many aren’t qualified to do the job. They worry that a wrong hire will cost them a great deal in lost production, recruiting costs, salaries wasted, etc.

If you are currently job hunting, you are likely concerned about HOW to go about asking for more salary and better perks, such as a signing bonus or more vacation. Here are some important steps to follow:

Know what your skills are worth.

Don’t guess, KNOW! This is a big mistake. Sometimes you were underpaid at your current or last job). This often happens when you have been with the same employer over several years and mostly got cost of living raises. Go to:robinryan.com/tools and click on salary resources to learn what employers are paying for your level of experience and skills. You can also check with your professional association — almost all publish salary ranges based on job title and experience level. If relocation is a necessary part of your career path, use the tools at robinryan.com/tools to compare housing costs, comparison of earnings levels in different regions, etc.

Whoever mentions money first loses

To preserve your negotiations power it’s critical to never reveal what your salary is (or was.). Plan for these salary questions and arm yourself with appropriate answers to keep an employer guessing. Laura, an ambitious woman was too open in interview and told the hiring manager her true salary, which was low because promises of raises had never materialized at her current job. The HR recruiter later informed her that, once the hiring manager heard the low figure her current employer paid her, he changed his opinion of her and downgraded all of her achievements and abilities (the new job paid twice her salary.) In her interview coaching session we worked on how to effectively handle salary questions and armed with effective strategies she landed the job adding a $32,000 pay increase over the job she left. Instead of revealing your salary when asked by a hiring manager or HR person, try dodging the question asking the employer what is the range this job will pay.

TRY
- Negotiate to Get the Money Up Front
- Get An Employment Letter

The critical mistake people make is they never even try to negotiate at all. Women are particularly unskilled and most just accept the 1st offer which is a key factor in why women who are still paid 23% less than me! Too many people today simply accept the offer as given. Prepare in advance what you’ll say ONCE the offer has been made. Knowing what the average salary is for your job level should allow you to have a realistic idea of what range you are in. Asking for a bit more and then offering 4-5 good reasons why they need your talents, will help convince the employer that you would be a valuable addition to their team and the extra dollars are worth paying.

Promises of future bonuses, raises, stock options, and reviews in a few months — all have a way of never happening down the line. Negotiate every dollar you want into the salary base now when the employer is most amenable. Cover the whole package. Evaluate the value a company's benefits offer and make an informed decision knowing exactly what that company’s medical plan offers, your deductible and out of pocket costs for your family. This is a good area to secure more salary when the offered plan is not very good.

Promises are quickly forgotten once you start the job. Get the details in writing so there are no misunderstandings later by requesting an employment letter from the employer.

Source: Book: 60 Seconds & You're Hired and Audio CDSalary Negotiation Strategies

Robin Ryan is consider the country’s leading job search expert. She has appeared on over 1000 TV and Radio shows including Oprah and Dr. Phil.Robin has a busy career counseling practice providing job search, resume writing, and interview coaching services to clients nationwide. Robin is the best-selling author of: "60 Seconds & You're Hired!", "Soaring On Your Strengths", "What to Do with the Rest of Your Life", "Winning Resumes" and,"Winning Cover Letters". Read more articles from Robin Ryan at:www.RobinRyan.com

12:00 am | link

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