This article is intended to be a very brief and practical manual for undertaking the difficult task of looking for a job.
Initial tips
Before entering into possible job search channels, addressing them and publicizing our candidacy, we must bear in mind some preliminary considerations. Each of these recommendations can be explained and detailed much more, but this article must be brief, so we invite the reader to delve deeper into them (by asking the author or looking for other articles on the Internet), to be well prepared:
- Clear objectives. We cannot enter the labor market without a specific professional objective: a desired function, position or position, even if it is approximate. The market is very wide and we have to discriminate well what we want. You have to 'shoot with a bullet' and not 'shoot a pellet'. This is very important for two reasons: not wasting time on things that we are not really interested in (or for which we are not prepared) and being perceived by the market as candidates with clear ideas (that of 'signing up for whatever' gives image of little seriousness or despair, greatly devaluing our image before employers). We must think carefully about what we want, know how to communicate it properly, before starting to look for it.
- Know that we will invest a lot of time and sweat: accept it calmly. The job search should be considered a personal project, a job in itself. Looking for a job is a very intensive and demanding job: it is a process with many inefficiencies (the labor market has them), you have to be mentalized and not despair. It's like sowing: the soil remains brown for a long time until the first green shoots appear and you don't have to be nervous.
- Plan well to save time and effort. In this personal project, you must follow an orderly methodology (for example, write down each contact that is made on a schedule or an Excel sheet), plan some stages and establish a calendar with defined objectives (contact this or that channel, with such or such companies, with this or that person, etc.). Cartridges should not be burned uselessly and reasonable and effective guidelines must be established, closely monitoring each issue.
- Create very careful communication tools. The CV, the cover or thank you letter, the planning of the interviews, the preparation of coherent answers to uncomfortable questions, must be carefully structured.
After these initial tips, we can go on to describe the main job search channels.
Job search channels
To do this, a distinction must be made between the visible market (explicit job offers that come to light) and the hidden market (unannounced offers).
Approximately 40% of offers are visible and no less than 60% are hidden. A good professional will look in one market as well as in another.
In the channels outlined, the approximate percentage of young professionals who usually obtain work through one or another route is cited in parentheses (various sources).
Visible market channels:
- Job exchanges (educational centers, 7%, Public Employment Services, 4%, online exchanges, 4%).
- Press advertisements on the Internet (7%).
- Corporate websites of companies (20%).
- Market intermediaries: selection consultancies that advertise their searches (included in previous percentages).
All of them consume relatively little time (the CV is sent quickly by telematic means).
- Oppositions to public bodies (% not available).
Hidden Market Channels:
- Networking, network of contacts. Find out where the jobs in the hidden market are, through family, friends or acquaintances (48%).
It is not about 'asking for a job' from our contacts (this is violent for people: family members, friends and acquaintances will tell us if they have any vacancies available, without having to be forced to do so) but rather looking for 'information and advice' from them: who to contact, where can employment opportunities be created, which sectors or companies are demanding candidates, etc. This is a lot of work but offers many non-obvious opportunities and with much less competition: statistically, 30 - 40 contacts in our environment can produce 2 - 3 real offers.
- Head hunters or head hunters, who look for candidates who fit into offers that do not appear publicly (5%).
- Others: creating a company, doing previous internships in a company, etc. (5%)
As can be seen, the search channels are varied and heterogeneous: therefore, the prospecting strategy must be, as has been said, very well planned.
