The Hidden Job Market: Practical Tips to Increase Your Chances of Landing a New Leadership Position
You may have heard about a “hidden job market”. What exactly does that mean? From my perspective as an Executive Recruiter, I see it in a couple of common pathways.
First, the path most people try in finding a new position is by going reviewing job postings on LinkedIn or various job boards, applying for the position in hopes of landing an interview. The challenge here is many jobs aren’t ever posted by companies, even on their own websites. This is especially true for higher level leadership positions (Director and up). Next even if the job is posted you may not be seeing all the postings, thus many jobs may be “hidden” from you.
We all know that many jobs are filled by networking, especially true in contact center, customer care and customer experience leadership positions. In fact, many leaders (you may be included here) have received recommendations for a position from a friend referral or similar.
Instead of perusing the job postings I recommend that you work your professional network to find opportunities that are not necessarily seen. Start by reaching out to people in your peer network to set up calls to have meaningful conversations about your search and make this a priority reaching out to those who you’ve spoken with recently. Also don’t be afraid to reach out to folks you haven’t talked to in 5+ years. Set up a call and let them know that you’re starting to look around for new opportunities.
Typical outcomes are:
“Thanks for letting me know. We’re hiring and may have something for you.”
“I appreciate you letting me know. I heard company X is hiring. I would recommend reaching out to someone over there.”
“Thanks for the heads up. A recruiter/headhunter reached out to me a few weeks ago. Here’s their contact information to contact them.”
The key here is to map out your network, put together a campaign plan and put in the time daily to execute it. I know this can be a challenge especially when you’re currently employed, but it’s well worth the time and effort.
Another recommendation is to use the job postings on LinkedIn and various job boards to see who’s hiring. Instead of automatically applying for a position, search LinkedIn and see if you are connected to someone working at that company. More than likely, you’ll be connected to a colleague who is connected to someone who works there. If so, ask your connection for an introduction…then ask them if they’re open to a short phone conversation, coffee meeting, lunch, etc.
I would prioritize having conversations with the hiring person first or someone close to the hiring person. If you can’t reach them, it’s helpful to have conversations with recruiters or HR folks. Keep in mind, that recruiters are usually working a large number of positions and are bombarded with resumes and messages. It can be difficult to reach and/or have a conversation. Use a combination of phone, text, email and LinkedIn messaging.
Try these ideas and you will have some success. If you don’t make progress with a hiring company you can always apply through the job postings. But instead of that being your first and only option, it’s your last option.
Watch our recent member chat with Pat on this topic area -
Pat Calvert is a CCNG member, Managing Director of Contact Center Talent.net partnering with CCNG to help members with executive search needs. Pat has a background in both executive search and contact center management going back to 1986.
