Considering a Strategic Career Move? We Can Make It Happen!
We never promise more than we can deliver, but we always deliver more than we promise.
"I've literally never had to look for a job - until now. I didn't know where to begin. You took an otherwise intimidating experience and showed me that it didn't need to be. Your professionalism and follow through are to be commended. You've opened my eyes to career options I didn't know existed."
Barbara Koon,
Operations Manager
Food Merchandising Service
Despite historically low unemployment rates, it's still tough out there right now for those seeking employment. Several technology-based industry sectors have yet to fully recover from the last recession, some are already beginning to hedge for the next one and, increasingly, jobs in these same industries are being outsourced internationally. Most business managers and owners have become accustomed to planning their employment very conservatively and competition is keen for the "good jobs." As a result, job-seekers who previously had little difficulty finding work are being frustrated in their efforts this time around. As a result, it's especially important to tap all available job search resources.
These include: advertised openings, recruiters, direct company contacts, networking, special opportunities. Here we'll consider the merits of directly contacting potential employers as part of an overall job search effort. Why, you may ask, should I contact a company that is not advertising a job opening? The simple answer is that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 85% to 90% of all job openings are not filled through employment advertising.
In addition, since just about anyone has access to the want ads, you stand to have the most competition from other job seekers when you simply answer job advertisements. Taking these two factors into account, our outplacement clients find:
- There is a fairly high probability of some employment need existing within any employer at any time, even if selected randomly, regardless of whether it is advertising to fill it.
- If you contact employers directly who are not advertising job openings, you will bypass much of your competition if an opportunity does exist there for you.
However, you can do even more to increase your odds of success than simply contacting area employers at random. If you can identify potential employers that are in industries, of a size and in locations such that they should be interested in your work history, and which conform to your current career objectives, you can increase the likelihood of your obtaining a job interview significantly.
Since a job-seeker's goal is to find an employer, this approach allows you to go directly to the source - cutting out the middlemen. Try it. It works.