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I am a 24-year old who is actively looking for a job. The thing is that there are many job applicants out there who are fiercely competing for very limited job opportunities. It’s pretty intimidating. What’s the best approach for me to have an upper hand in looking for those job vacancies even before they are published? – Aggressively Hot.
During the noontime recreational activities, the CEO of the corporation mounted the platform, accompanied by an overall-clad man off the assembly line, and made this speech: “My fellow workers, you are about to see how this organization rewards those who are conscientious and hardworking. This man standing beside me has been with the company for less than a year, during which time his unusual qualities have earned him salary increases in excess of P50,000 a month.
“I have watched him closely, observed with great pleasure the manner in which he has pitched in and gotten things done. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that starting this very afternoon, I am asking him to get out of his factory uniform, come into the executive branch, and take over an office with the title of vice president for administration, and with an annual pay of P2.5 million. Congratulations to you!”
The workman shook the extended hand and said: “Gee, thanks, Dad!”
Can you imagine yourself in a similar situation? Probably, you’ll say “very unlikely.” Most of us have little chance to be in that situation where you can easily get a lucrative job on a silver platter. But sure you can, if only you know how to predict the future. And how do you predict the future? There are many smart management philosophers who would tell us: “You can only predict the future by creating it.”
Times have changed. It makes people nervous. Just like you, we are constantly reminded that there are “limited job opportunities” out there. Even people with considerable work experience and high educational background don’t easily make it. That’s why job scarcity bears deeper challenge as it exacerbates the job seeker’s worries just like you.
The unpublished job market
And so, how do you get those jobs ahead of the others? Let me tell you that most lucrative jobs are not advertised in the classified ad sections of newspapers and even in the Internet where organizations host a good listing of non-management positions. Why not? Because there is such a thing as the hidden job market that contains unadvertised jobs and opportunities.
Given a tight budget and surplus of job candidates, organizations often shun advertising in order to avoid a deluge of CVs from job hopping deadwoods. Instead, job openings are filled through word of mouth or farmed out to one or two special head hunters.
The hidden job market exists wherever there are problems or challenges that are created with every beat of the economy, especially these days when the country is looking up with its high trade and commercial performance.
To get ahead of other job applicants, you must do a thorough research. Look beyond the obvious. When you take that approach, you take off blinders that prevent other people from seeing beyond their own geography. Among others, you must take the cue from the following actions:
- Read the business news, management periodicals, or trade journals. They can give you enough lead to discover what companies are given a new government license, franchise, or those that have been awarded new contracts. Aside from this, what new technologies or market challenges that you can identify to give you opportunities. How about people you know who are about to retire or migrate to other countries? These could give you a head start to discover than an organization may be thinking of filling up some positions.
- Discover your potential employers in non-traditional places. Use Google Alerts to help you in finding about your target employer and industry. Visit your local chapter or national chamber of commerce or employers’ organizations. Look for job listings in last year’s newspaper. Check out the back issues of job wanted ads and know the status of their search. Review corporate annual reports for trends and problems. Get names of key officials and find out about their competitors. Join LinkedIn and be active in professional discussions. This way, you could also be discovered by head hunters.
- Keep abreast of new books and publications. They can give you new ideas and trends that you can use as an icebreaker to contact those key corporate officials by email. Check how those new thoughts can be useful to a particular industry or business. Have a complete understanding of the new ideas and use them to get the interest of your target corporate officials. Be courteous and ensure that you know their full names and job titles. Your purpose is to see if you can set up a short meeting, not necessarily limited for a job interview.
The best search strategy is to get past through the rejections. Every rejection is a unique experience. But make sure that you learn from each exercise. Once you’ve had some practice, you’ll readily swing into action with confidence and vigor to help you identify a clear path to the job that you want.
DO YOU WANT TO CHALLENGE THIS ADVICE? This article is for non-management people who can’t raise an issue directly against their toxic bosses due to fear of rejection or job insecurity. If you have a different or supporting view, readers may send their feedback or questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or follow Rey Elbo on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter for his random management thoughts.
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