What’s it like out there? Job stats paint a mixed bag.
➔ Maybe it’s subconsciously tied to our love of sports, but Americans love statistics. And, if you enjoy crunching the numbers, you’re going to love today’s Tip of the Day. We’ve got job-search numbers, numbers and more numbers.
Some say that looking for a job is a full-time job. Not according to Careerbuilder.com. They say today’s job seekers only spend an average of 11 hours a week looking for work.
Where do you fit in?
Let’s start with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) which reports that the average amount of time to find a job is 24 weeks. TalentWorks notes that it takes 100–200 job applications to get one job offer. Jobvite on the other hand adds that, on average, 12 percent of candidates who applied for jobs were asked for an interview. Of those interviewed, 28 percent received a job offer.
Jobvite goes on to say that almost 50 percent of all applications come from job boards, followed by 35 percent which are submitted through internal career sites. Is this really the best approach? Jobvite points out that less than one percent of candidates who apply through job boards and career sites are offered a position.
How do the successful candidates apply? Jobvite claims that the most effective way is directly to the hiring manager. Of those who apply in this manner, 19 percent land the job. That would make sense considering that most jobs are not posted online. Forbes claims that 70 percent, and LinkedIn says that 85 percent of all jobs are never posted.
Yet Zety.com states that more than half of job seekers say their preferred source for finding jobs is online. Maybe that’s why the BLS notes that the long-term unemployed (longer than six months) constitute just over a third of the unemployed. Doesn’t make sense.
What makes more sense is that Glassdoor claims that the second most popular method of hearing about a job – 45 percent – is from a friend. Which points to that old tried and true, networking.
One small consolation for mature job seekers is that Gallup found that Millennials have the highest rates of unemployment and underemployment.
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