Julie has been a committed job seeker until now. Her job applications in the past one year have bore no positive outcome. We found out that she has been applying for advertised jobs only, which could be the basis of her stunted job search.
“It is almost a year now since I started an aggressive job search in Procurement. There is no single day that passes by without accessing a newspaper to just to go through the vacancies sections. I have also subscribed to job alerts from various online job sites to get advertised positions, which I always apply for. Out of all these applications, I have only received a handful of job interview invitations and no positive feedback. I must confess I have lost trust in advertised jobs. What should I do?” writes Julie in an email.
There is a section of job seekers who only wait until a position is advertised for them to start applying. Much as many people have found employment by applying for such jobs, relying only on advertised jobs can sometimes never work for you.
“Some companies only advertise for vacant positions which ideally never exist. They only do this to fulfill an requirement, otherwise they already have a suitable candidate in mind and even when you do everything necessary to apply for such a position, you may never be hired,” Michael Gacha, Recruitment Assistant at Corporate Staffing Services explains.
Some blatant truth there, right? This should above all rake you into wakefulness and stop relying on advertised jobs only as you look for a job.
Even then, should you find yourself in the confusion where you are applying for jobs and receiving no feedback, follow the golden tips in this article to boost your job search.
Other Different Ways To Get Hired
It is apparent that recruiters only turn to advertising their vacant positions as a last resort. By the time a recruiter decides to advertise a job, you can be sure they have found no fit from within the company, their databases or from within the networks they can lay their hands on.
So, before the recruiter gets to this level of advertising, you can take advantage of them through the following ways.
1. Referrals
Find as many tangible networks as you can within profiled companies, those you intend to work with. When a vacancy comes about within the company, one of your networks can notify the recruiter about a potential employee somewhere-you.
There are companies who would rather avoid the whole lengthy recruitment process and instead use their networks to fill their vacant positions. Referrals are also favoured by recruiters who are wary of hiring an unfavourable employee in someone they have no background about.
This article explains the specific career networks that can help you get even an unadvertised job.
2. Walk-in applications
Unless the company has a sign board with large writings ‘we are not hiring’, there is no fault in you walking in and seeking audience with the human resource department. I have a friend who walked into a pharmaceutical firm and for 3 days, he was denied entry to the human resource office. On the fourth day, the receptionist was amazed by my friend’s persistence and allowed him entry anyway. That marked the beginning of a small journey that saw him land a sales job at the firm.
When you secure audience with the recruiter, always make your effort worthwhile. Present you case very well and let them know you are looking to work with them, coupled with your skills and overall suitability. The least you can get out of this is having your details go down their database. You might even be referred to an available job or who know, you might get your job just by that.
When looking for a sales job for instance, you do not walk into the recruiter and tell them ‘I am looking for a job’. Apart from indicating that you do not know what you want, it is also a show of despair and no recruiter would take in a desperate job seeker. Instead, say the following,
‘I want to sell for you’. It is a simple statement that can work wonders and gear the recruiter into further conversation with you. I need not say where the conversation can end.
3. Job portals
Most companies nowadays have job portals on their websites where job seekers can fill their details and provide their CVs in case a matching job comes by. You will find several sites that places individuals for interviews according to matching jobs available. Many people have got jobs in this manner. Counties also have job portals on their websites where you can register and always update your details in case a matching job crops up.
In all the above suggested alternative ways to get hired, you realize that you also avoid the competitive nature of advertised jobs. You take the step from fellow job seekers and stand alone to actually be noticed by a recruiter.
