Get aggresive with your job search.

I am often told by senior candidates that they are quite surprised because it is the start of a new year and they are still not finding appropriate positions advertised on job boards or otherwise.  I can only shake my head when I hear this.  Companies are not advertising or announcing that they are opening their wallets to hire executives in order to help them meet their mandates for the year.

This practice existed at one time but this is no longer the case.

If you continue to believe that companies are going to advertise V.P. positions in the paper or on their web site, than you are not changing with the times.

There is no question that the start of a calendar year brings optimism within companies but they tend to be more discreet with regard to their hiring plans.  This is the result of two factors.

Firstly, Companies do not like to advertise positions or opportunities anymore because it often brings unwanted attention and mass interest from the public

in the form of resumes.  These resumes typically deliver more non qualified candidates than qualified candidates.

This further slows the decision making process and forces companies to assign someone to review these resumes as well as field the forth coming follow up calls from candidates.

This is all before a hiring manager is even involved.   

Secondly, companies across the board are targeting specific skill sets more than ever.

They are being much more precise with who they intend to meet with for available opportunities.  With so much emphasis on social media these days, it is very easy to conduct research on an applicant before even contacting them.  Specific industry, specific product and specific customer experience are all of greater interest now to hiring managers as they do not have as much time to train on the job as they did in past decades.

How does someone combat this?

Firstly make sure you have a strong online presence (i.e. LinkedIn  or Zoom Info)

That way you at least allow yourself to be considered even when you are not aware that you are being considered.

Secondly, do not be reactive in your job search.  If you continue to do the same thing that you have always done when in a search mode or continue what you have been doing since you have been recently downsized, your search will likely continue into the Spring.  People need to aggressively network.  This is done best by starting with people who know and respect your work, your skills and your track record.  People feel most comfortable referring people that they truly believe will make a difference to a company rather than former colleagues who might have some question marks regarding their candidacy.  Take some time putting together a list of these contacts from your past that you can consider “high percentage contacts” as you will need many for a successful job search.  Someone searching full time for a new opportunity should have at least two meetings a day so that will give you an idea on how many of these contacts will be needed for your search.

Farewell,

Mike