What?! Only 20% of Jobs are Posted?!

This morning while perusing the internet I ran across an alarming statistic that I need to share with my peers! I came across a statistic on New Grad life.com: "80% of open positions are not posted online." For many career oriented graduates, I’m sure it hurts to read this because most of our job searches are centered around online job postings. It seems that we’re all fighting over the same 20% of jobs! I know that it may be difficult to pull yourself away from the safety and comfort of the internet, but it may be a good idea to focus some of your effort elsewhere. Where you might ask?

• Start with your connections. Knowing the right people can go a long way in getting a career. If you are lucky enough to have powerful and influential connections, use them! Ask your family, friends, professors and old colleagues if they can help you, or if they might know of anyone who can. Don’t be afraid to give these types of people a call and explain your situation to them.
• Use the telephone. You may think of cold calling employers as an ancient practice, but this can be a great way to get talking with companies. Call the specific companies you want to work for and ask for the hiring manager. It’s important to use your manners, and always ask employers if it’s a good time to talk. Leave messages, but make sure they are clear and professional. Speak clearly when leaving your name and number.
• Look at ads in print media. There are still hundreds of job postings in newspapers listed every week. For young graduates like us the internet may seem like the most reasonable place to post open positions, but many hiring managers are older, and may prefer to use more traditional outlets to advertise job openings. Check out local newspapers and magazines and you may be surprised at the amount of job postings listed there.

I’m not saying to give up on the internet; it is definitely still the most practical and resourceful job search tool out there. However, if you find yourself stuck in an internet based career search, you might try getting offline for awhile. There are many job openings out there that take a little more effort to uncover.

Money Makin' Mitchler '10