You have a better chance of getting a job when you network vs. applying online through job boards.
Expect to work with the Human Resources Department, not the Hiring Manager, the person that makes a hiring decision.
- Anticipate a long wait for a reply (if there is one) since Human Resources depends on their STRUCTURE and CONTROL when they process applications. That’s what you become, a “processed application”.
- Expect to be important only if your “key words” match their job description.
- Look forward to not negotiating your salary since you had to fill it in on the application. This can also eliminate you when you apply online if you suggested a number out of range for the job spec.
- Make a wrong career decision: With such poor response rates to online applications, you may take any opportunity. If you’re lucky, it works out. Otherwise, it may wind being a poor decision for your future.
- Say goodbye to meeting a lot of people. If you spend an hour a day with one online application, you miss out on meeting at least 5 new people in your network that may have job opportunities and referrals. That’s 20 people a week, 80 people a month.
- Consider yourself a responder, not action-taker. When you respond to online jobs, you may not be the go-getter, proactive hunter they are looking for.
“Nearly half (48 percent) of employers can’t seem to find the workers they need to fill their job vacancies.”
With all of their processes and technology, is there any wonder why this system is broken? Survey
Strategic Networking is the NEW “old-school personal approach”
- 80% of new jobs are found through networking and it’s not about some other entity’s structure and control.
- Through networking, your relationships lead to introductions and referrals to people with opportunities.
- People that you have relationships with value your skills and achievements over your “key words”.
- Your strong relationships will not become a black hole, most will be looking out for you.
- When you are introduced by someone you know to an opportunity or referral, you have a better chance for a meeting. You have an advantage in the meeting because you were referred—your “foot in the door”!
- When networking, you are a proactive hunter. You are demonstrating, in real time, what employers are looking for— a person that also has the “soft skills”: “personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.”
