The Hidden Job Market

As was discussed in yesterday's entry, the real secret about the job market is that there are really two job markets. The first job market is the one that most job seekers look to for a job. Let's call it the "Open Job Market".

The other job market is the one that most people actually find jobs through. We will refer to this one as the "Hidden Job Market".

The open job market is the one that most people who are looking for jobs turn to. This market includes the use of advertisements, recruiters, agencies, personnel departments and mass mailings. While this is the preferred choice for the majority of job seekers, studies have demonstrated that only 20% of jobs are found by these methods.

The hidden job market is the one on which you should concentrate your efforts. Studies show that 60% to 70% of jobs are found through the hidden job market. Not only that, but nearly 100% of the best jobs that suit the talents, abilities, skills and knowledge of the applicant are found this way. That means not only do you increase your chances of finding a job in this market, but that job will be the one that is right for you.

What is the "hidden job market"? You may think that it is a list of jobs that are kept hidden by the good-old-boy (or good-old-girl) network so that they can make sure their friends get those jobs. That is NOT the hidden job market that we are speaking about here. Does that happen? Of course, but these are really "open market" jobs by our definition.

After yesterday's entry showed a few examples of what the hidden job market is not, let's find out what it really is.

The hidden job market that has the absolute best jobs exists in only one place. The sole place where the hidden job market resides is in the mind of the decision maker who has the power and authority to hire you.

I know that right now the statement above may seem to you to be vague, ephemeral and difficult to "get your arms around". The in depth analysis presented in Job Finding Formula will help you understand exactly what is means.

One of the best ways to begin thinking about this is to take a map of your city or town. From the center draw a circle with a radius of 25 miles (50 miles across the circle). Then draw another circle with a radius of 50 miles (100 miles across). Try to estimate how many businesses are within each circle. Maybe take the Yellow Pages and count the number of businesses on about four pages. Look at the page numbers to find out how many there are. Divide the total number of pages by 4 and multiply by the number of businesses you counted. This will not be exact, but a close approximation. There are probably thousands, in a large city tens of thousands.

Now, what percentage of those businesses do you think have problems? Twenty-five percent? Fifty percent? Less.....More?

I am telling you that 100% of those businesses have problems! During good economic times, businesses have problems keeping up with orders, supplying their goods and services to more and more customers. In bad times, businesses have problems keeping costs down, becoming more efficient, and capturing a larger percentage of the declining market from their competitors.

What's more, is that within every one of those businesses are decision makers who are very much aware of those problems. Those problems may be causing those people to lose sleep at night. Those problems will certainly be putting pressure on those decision makers.

Now, let's go back to that hard-to-understand statement. The hidden job market exists only within the mind of the decision maker who has the power and authority to hire you. The jobs that flow from this market are not in the employment ads in the paper or on any website. They are not on the company's personnel department lists. The decision maker has most likely not mentioned these jobs to anyone.

This next statement may really knock your socks off. Sometimes, and actually more often than you might expect, EVEN THE DECISION MAKER DOESN'T KNOW THAT THE JOB EXISTS! Wow! What a way to cut down on your competition for a job. You may be the only one, including the person able to hire you, who knows that a job might exist.

That doesn't sound possible, does it? I mean, how can someone offer you a job if they don't know that there is a job to offer? To understand this you must remember that every company has problems. The skills taught in Job Finding Formula will place you in front of decision makers who, even if they don't realize that they need to hire someone, do realize that they are under great stress and pressure because of those problems. Remember as well, that these decision makers have the power and authority to CREATE THAT JOB as a solution to a problem.

Job Finding Formula shows you exactly how to make these decision makers want to read, consider and even comment on your background and experiences. You will also learn how to present your talents, abilities, skills and knowledge in such a way that during one of your meetings, the decision maker will recognize that you can help solve at least one of his problems. Even in meetings where this doesn't happen, the decision maker may recognize that you can solve a problem for someone else he knows.

I was explaining this concept to a person I know who is in a fairly high management position with a large, household-name international corporation. At first, he was a bit skeptical; however, as I continued it was like a light bulb went on. He said, "You know, you are right. Executives and managers at our company are given a "bucket of money" called a budget. With that budget they are expected to achieve goals. Achieving goals means overcoming problems." He said that he had never thought about it in precisely that way, but now that I explained it in those terms, he knows he has seen it happen many times.

Michael Britner
Job Finding Master