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How Jobs Are Really Filled

Listen as this employer describes how positions are actually filled.

“The mistake most job seekers make is spending their time sending out résumés, when they should be spending their time networking, connecting with key people in their industry and building relationships.

“As a recruiter, I helped our company fill close to 1,000 openings last year. Here is how they were filled.

“We didn’t advertise most of our openings. Instead, the hiring manager already had someone in mind, or maybe a member of his team referred someone to him. He would contact me and let me know he had someone he wanted to hire and I just moved it along from there.

“For the advertised positions, there would often be at least a hundred people who had applied for the opening. I typically got calls from the hiring managers asking me to pull out specific applications for people they wanted to interview. These were people they knew, who were referred to them, or who had already contacted them. Because the manager already knew about these people, he knew they would be a great fit. These were the people who usually got the job. We did hire some people from the general pool of applicants, but it was only about 25 percent of the time.

“My advice: network. Build your network. Maintain your network. Connect with the people making hiring decisions either directly or through others. If job seekers will do this, they will get jobs.”

Back to page 26.

Basketball Got Me a Job

Let’s read how Reuben’s Me in 30 Seconds led to a great job from his network.

“I’ve always been a hard worker, but sometimes that’s not enough. Cutbacks left me without a job, and I figured since I was a hard worker I’d find work easily. The problem was, I had several barriers in my background that were making it difficult to get interviews. It seemed like I could never get past the applications. Several weeks went by, and I was frustrated and discouraged. Then I learned about networking and thought that might be the key for me to get an opportunity. I practiced my Me in 30 Seconds over and over and started talking to everyone—letting them know I was looking for construction management opportunities and what my skills were and how experienced I was.

“One evening I was playing basketball with some friends. I realized they each knew a lot of people and might be able to help me find work, so I shared my Me in 30 Seconds with them. To my surprise, one of them said his wife worked for a construction firm and to send her my résumé. I did and followed up with her the next day. She said she would pass it along to an industry group she belonged to. A few days later I got a call from a man I didn’t know. He had my résumé and wanted to talk with me. He managed a large construction firm. Ultimately that led to a great job. My job was never posted to the public, and it came from someone two or three levels deep in my network. I never would have gotten this opportunity if I hadn’t opened my mouth and shared my Me in 30 Seconds. Everybody has a network; use it to get the word out.”

Back to page 32.