The Jobs Market

The job market has changed dramatically with the advent of the internet. The market is complex and confusing unless you know where and how to look for employment opportunities.

LinkedIn has become a dominant force for both recruiters and candidates, recruitment agencies still exist in their thousands as do headhunters but they work in a very different way to that even 5 years ago. 

Companies are using social media and looking directly for staff, the recruitment sections of both national and local press have shrunk to be replaced with their own online platform.

Aggregators such as Indeed and Monster, and search engines are now well established, but it is common to see duplicated and “ghost jobs” be they national or multinational businesses.

So how do you find a job in this market?

Before you even contemplate the jobs market it is worth bearing in mind that companies recruit when they have a need and that is usually an urgent one. They have a service to perform or product to manufacture and until they can get the right robots, they need to employ people. There is often a resource gap limiting the ability of the organisation to do what it wants to do. To fill this gap the organisation will first look internally but failing to find anyone with the necessary skills, experience and availability, they then start to look externally. 

At this stage, it may well be unknown whether this “gap” is a full-time role, permanent or interim. 

The next step companies take is to ask their existing staff, “Do you know anyone experienced for this job?” 

Up to this point job seekers are unaware of the employment opportunity. You have probably heard it referred to as the “hidden” job market, although a need has been recognised by the employer, they have done nothing to advertise the job or use recruitment consultant. It is often the case that a formal job description and person specification has yet to be created, a remuneration package researched, or steps put into place to find candidates. 

For job seekers this breaks the market into two distinctively different areas, hidden jobs and the advertised jobs. Each requires a different approach. How do you currently find jobs and most importantly how can you find those hidden jobs?