I am currently reading ‘What color is your parachute, 2009’ by Richard Nelson Bolles and it confirmed what I already suspected about the least efficient way to find a new job.
1. Replying to Internet job adverts
Research has shown that for every 100 job hunters who answer internet job adverts, only 4 will actually find their next role this way. So, don’t place all your faith in the power of monster.co.uk to help you find your next job! The good news is that if you are looking for role in IT, Engineering or Finance then this figure rises to 10 job hunters. Still not great odds…
2. Sending out your CV to random employers
Using this method results in only 7 out of 100 job seekers finding a new role. It is rumoured that there are over 40 000 000 CVs on the internet floating around.
3. Applying to jobs advertised in trade journals
Unfortunately, this method has the same success rate as the previous method… only 7 out of 100 job seekers will find their next job this way. This surprised me…
4. Answering local newspaper adverts
Between 5 and 24 job seekers, out of 100, will find a job this way. This method of job hunting is more successful when people are seeking a lower paid job.
5. Using a recruitment agent or executive search firm
This really surprised me, but between 5 and 28 job seekers, out of 100, will find their next job this way.
What these figures don’t take into account, is the age distribution of job seekers. I once read somewhere, that if you are below 35, you are 80% more likely to find your next job by using a recruitment consultant rather than through your personal network. If you are over 35, you are 80% more likely to find your next role via your network rather than using a recruitment consultant.
It is interesting to note, that all of these five methods of job hunting and generally the options that most job seekers will use to find their next role.
Definitely food for thought! In tomorrow’s blog post, I will look at the five most efficient methods of job hunting.
Related posts:
- The five most efficient ways of finding your next job Did you know that almost 80% of all vacancies are not advertised? All the most efficient ways of finding your...
- Four questions you need to answer to get your job search up and running efficiently Maybe you have sensed that your organisation is going to be re-structuring or downsizing in the next six months, or...
- How to use social media to find your next role Social media is a great way to increase your profile and get recognised. Here are seven top tips to use...
- 11 ways to write a CV that gets you an interview The purpose of your CV is to get you to interview. Nothing more, nothing less. As a career coach, when...
- 10 tips to help you get a job FAST Did you know that the conventional ways of finding a job a not the most effective or efficient? Here are...
4 Comments
Interesting list Heather, although I think potentially rather misleading and incomplete…
Each of the five job-hunting methods is measured out of 100…so actually, let’s say for the sake of argument that those are the same 100 applicants across all five methods. And if we take the top-end figures for each of the successful applicants, then 70 (76 if in IT) out of 100 applicants will find their job through one of these 5 worst job-hunting methods. Not bad odds…
Of course these days we have more ways of job hunting, thanks to the various online social/business networking sites, plus of course the oldest methods: old boys’ network, face-to-face recommendation etc, so every method is going to have thinner numbers now. And don’t forget that lots of organisations are obliged to advertise roles in the interest of equality etc.
The danger with this sort of list is that the more impressionable may abandon these methods of job hunting, when the very job they need may actually be advertised through one of these media.
The real lesson in job-hunting is to leave no stone unturned. The right job may have been mentioned the night previously to your next door neighbour; it might pop into your email through a job alert from a job board; it might be something you pick up from a Twitter search; or in the free Sunday newspaper that’s so awful you’re tempted to set it alight the moment it’s thrust through your letterbox. Rule nothing out.
Thanks Anthony for your excellent thoughts. I agree with you that people should look at all the different job hunting routes. In my experience I tend to find job hunters focus almost entirely on the least effectively job hunting routes – e.g. job boards, rather than having a blended approach.
I agree with the aim of the blog, which is saying that there are better ways of getting employed than via jobs boards, where the average job seeker spends 40% of their time. The difference between the typical jobs board and a (professional) trade journal should be 2x in favour of the trade journal. Professional bodies tend to vet ob adverts to a high level, job boards are just after the money. But, worse than job boards is the trend of some job seekers is towards Free Ads papers including CraingsList and Gumtree. I have been amazed at how many are doing this, but it is bottom scrapping!
Thanks Ian. I was hearing yesterday how people management’s revenue had dropped from 3.5 million to 400k, due to the drop off in recruitment advertising. I don’t think trade press will recover it’s recruitment advertising revenue, as the recruitment industry changes the way it does things.