Not all strategies are equally effect at producing results and job searches strategies are no exception to this rule.

I came across some interesting job finding facts in the book "What Color is Your Parachute?" 2010 US Edition.

The worst yet most commonly used job finding approaches include…

  • 4-10% of people who only search for jobs on-line will get a job.
  • 7%  of people find jobs by mailing out resumes to employers a random
  • 7%  of people find jobs by answering ads in professional or trade journals, appropriate to your field
  • 5-24% of people find jobs by answering local newspaper ads
  • 5-25% of people find jobs by going to private employment agencies or search firms for help.
  • 8% of people find jobs by going to places where employers pick out workers such as union halls
  • 12% of people find jobs by taking a civil service examination
  • 12% of people find jobs by asking former teachers or professors for job-leads
  • 14% of people find jobs by through federal employment service offices.

On the other hand…

  • 33% of people find jobs by asking for job leads from: family members, friends, people in the community, staff at career centres – especially community colleges or high school or college where you graduated
  • 47% of people find jobs by knocking on the door of any employer, factory, or office that interests you, whether they are known to have a vacancy or not
  • 69% of people find jobs by yourself, using the phone book’s yellow pages to identify subjects or fields of interest to you in the town or city where you want to work, and then calling up or visiting the employers listed in that field, to ask if they are hiring for the type of position you can do, and do well.
  • 84% of people find jobs in a group with other job hunters, a kind of job-club, using the phone book’s yellow pages to identify subjects or fields of interest to you in the town or city where you are, and then calling or visiting the employers listed in that field, to ask if they are hiring for the type of position you can do, and do well.
  • 86% of people find jobs by doing a Life-Changing Job Hunt: This method, invented by the late John Crystal, depends upon doing extensive homework on yourselfbefore you go out there pounding the pavement. This homework resolves three simple words: What, Where and How.
    • WHAT: This has to do with life skills. Inventory and identify what skills you have that you most enjoy doing, not what you are best at. These are called transferable skills.
    • WHERE: This has to do with job environments.  You need to decide where you want to use your skills, where you would thrive, and where you do most effective work.
    • HOW: You need to decide how to get where you want to go. Find out the name of the organizations that have such jobs to offer and the name of the people or person there who actually has the power to hire you. And how you can approach this person to show him/her how your skills can help them with their problems. Show them how you would not be part of the problem and but part of the solution.

As you can see, just like in business marketing, targeted job search strategies are much more effective and actually result in finding a job faster in most cases. I say in most cases because my wife happens to be one of the few exceptions. Under my coaching and guidance, she has successfully got every single job she has applied for in the last 10 years by applying on-line.

So, which job finding strategy are you using these days?

 

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