True or False? Most people get a job by applying online.
Research shows that fewer than 20 percent of jobs are advertised. Recruiters at top companies find job boards an inefficient method of finding well-qualified candidates for open positions. The onslaught of applicants for every job posting produces too many resumes for recruiters to sift through. They do not have the resources to find the precious few well-qualified candidates. Not surprisingly, companies are reducing the recruitment dollars spent on job boards and ATS (applicant tracking systems) in favor of other methods including social media recruiting efforts, and more comprehensive, data-forward recruitment technologies. So rather than finding your next opportunity on an online job board, chances are good that it will come by word of mouth from someone you know (or someone who knows someone you know!) and not by applying online.
This means that if you are relying solely on your computer to land your next interview, you are most likely slowing your job search.
The internet has made it very easy to hide from people and still stay connected to what’s going on in the world. It has also made a wealth of information available for job seekers in researching job opportunities – that’s a good thing. However, don’t fall into the trap of thinking of the internet as your only tool in your job search, but rather as one part of your overall job search strategy. A strategy that could also include in-person networking efforts, informational interviews, reconnecting with former colleagues, attending job fairs, and talking to as many people as possible about your job search. Use the internet to find people to talk to in person.
LinkedIn is the go-to resource for making new professional connections. Ideally, once you’ve made new connections online, you can then take them offline. If through your networking efforts you can find someone who works at a company for which you’d like to work, this can help you solve one of the biggest problems you face: being an unknown quantity to that prospective employer.
When surveyed, most hiring managers prefer to consider a person for a job who is recommended, even in the slightest, by an existing employee or personal acquaintance.
Bottom line: If you use the internet to talk to lots of people, it will speed up your job search. If you use the internet to keep from talking to people, you may be hiding from your next job.