It’s amazing how the various elements of your job search tie together
You’re looking for a job. You think you’re looking high and low. But are you really?
Especially if you’ve worked at a large company for most or all of your career, where’s the first place you look? Other large companies.
You can see this for yourself. If you belong to a job search group where everyone reveals their target companies to the group, virtually all of those participants are targeting large companies.
This flies in the face of Willie Sutton’s famous observation. A career bank robber in the 1930s, when asked why he robbed banks, Sutton replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”
Shouldn’t your job search follow the same advice? Where should you be looking for employment? Answer: Where most of the jobs are.
And where are those jobs? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 91 percent of all employees work at small companies. Shouldn’t it follow then that the highest probability of you finding a job would be in a small company? That’s where nine out of ten people work.
Of course, most studies also show that the vast majority of jobs at smaller companies are never posted. Anywhere. Sorry Monster and Ladders, et.al. History shows that most job opportunities are flying under the radar.
Now, ask yourself this. One of the most common recommendations for you to pursue in your job search is that you must be networking. Correct? Sure it is.
By now the connection should seem obvious. If most job openings are never posted and you’re networking every chance you get, one of most likely ways to learn of job openings at smaller companies (where most people work) is through word of mouth. In this case, that spells networking.
It all ties back together. Unlisted job openings, small companies, networking, making connections, uncovering unlisted job openings. Oh, the tangled webs we weave.