Summary:
We discuss both salary negotiations and the hidden job market.
Want to know how to negotiate your salary offer before you accept the job?
We discuss both salary negotiations and the hidden job market.
Want to know how to negotiate your salary offer before you accept the job?
Start negotiations during the hiring process. And you’ll be more likely to get a better salary.
In turn, this will lead to greater increases when you’re asking for a pay rise from your current employer.
The key is to express your enthusiasm for the job.
Also, be respectful throughout negotiations. Keep reading for more expert advice.
Book Review
In this article, we’re examining a fantastic book that every executive (managerial) job seeker should read.
The “Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search ─ everything you need to know to find and secure the executive position you deserve.”
The author is Simon Gray, of Career Codex Limited.
It’s an incredible resource for anyone who wants to know how to succeed in finding a career executive position anywhere in the world.
Key topics the book covers include:
- The Super Executives CV/Résumé
- Cover Letters
- Getting in Front of Decision Makers
- The First-Class Executive Interview
- The Online Executive
- Effective Executive Networking
- Innovate to Stay Ahead and Handling the Offer & Negotiation Stage
What Is The Hidden Job Market?
In this excellent book, Simon captures the concept of getting a job through the hidden job market.
‘Hidden’ because there are always job opportunities there which are not advertised.
Although 80% of job seekers don’t know this market and ways to look for work in it.
For example, Simon narrated a real-life case.
As a result, he employed someone because the person (whom he called Matt) understood and used the hidden job market network tactfully.
Simon employed Matt even when he wasn’t fully ready to hire a ‘recruitment consultant’ at the time.
There was no advertised job opening. He did this because Matt impressed him.
Simon wrote:
“Matt sent me an introductory email and attached his CV. The subject line caught my eye as it read: Previous experience in recruitment.
He’d done a brief stint hiring for one of my competitors.”
Read More
- Discover key skills for writing an excellent CV
- How to get job referrals
- How to get a job quicker
- How to write a resume like a guru
A few days later, Simon says Matt called him to confirm the email was indeed received.
Simon recollects,
“I remembered him (Matt) and was pleasantly surprised to find an articulate young man on the end of the phone.
He had clearly researched my business.”
The long and short of this was that Simon invited Matt for a coffee and was very impressed.
Within a week, Matt had two meetings and Simon hired him.
3 Things Matt Did Right
- He didn’t wait to respond to a vacancy advert – he took the first step and tried his luck in the hidden job market
- Matt was persistent and was always polite
- He researched and prepared for the initial phone chat with Simon
Again, the author narrates how the hidden job market works.
Here’s an example: Suppose Mr Bradley is a businessperson and wants to hire someone.
There are three scenarios likely to happen.
Conversation 1
First, Mr Bradley will naturally enquire among his peer group, close friends, and contacts.
He will see if they can help by recommending someone or connecting him with a potential employee.
Because these contacts are in Mr Bradley’s long-standing commercial network, he knows them and will trust them should they recommend someone to him.
More than any recommendation from a recruiter.
Imagine if you had had a working relationship with any of Mr Bradley’s associates!
Mr Bradley will first explore this network.
Then, if he exhausts this group, he will try the next conversation.
Conversation 2
Next, Mr Bradley will talk to his professional advisers, suppliers, and general connections.
Although these people may not be Mr Bradley’s inner circle, nevertheless, he still respects and trusts this group.
And he will welcome any recommendations from them.
If he can get a suitable person recommended by them, that’s perfect! If not, next, he will move to conversation three.
Conversation 3
Lastly, Mr Bradley will consult a job board (executive) to post or list the position or work with a professional recruiting firm.
These are the scenarios that happen daily, weekly, and monthly.
And in all job industries/sectors and at all job levels.
About 80% of job seekers put themselves in the tight corner of conversation three.
That is, relying only on websites to look for a job.
Simon then compared these three conversation scenarios to a pond.
So, pond three is the biggest and the most overcrowded.
He advised, to benefit from your job search maximally, you can’t just depend only on fishing in pond three.
Note, ponds one and two are smaller, with less competition.
Indeed, these are where you should be fishing more for jobs.
Note also, referrals depend on the recommendations by people that Mr Bradley knows.
So, the probability of a successful placement is higher.
Because the person recommending the candidate may have tried and tested the candidate previously.
Sometimes, you can uncover and create a new vacancy that didn’t exist previously.
The company will then employ you to do the job; all because of your networking skill and approach to the hidden job market.
Simon showed how this can happen too (see p.17; 90-94).
Last Remarks
Ponds one and two constitute the hidden job market.
Understand and position yourself in this market.
It will give better information and more opportunities for networking and succeeding in your job search.
But don’t forget about pond three (the conventional job sources like LinkedIn and others).
Decide which media you will use to reach the employer (e.g., email, phone, LinkedIn, Twitter, or face to face).
Here’s the critical thing.
Can you come up with a well-thought-out way to present before a potential employer in a “hidden job” market to apply for a position?
(pp.15-17; 75-80)
What To Do and What Not to Do in The Hidden Job Market
Getting your next career move through the hidden job market needs some social skills and persistence. Below are a few tips to get you started:
Attitude is everything, so make sure yours is positive!
If it isn’t, leave the approach for another day.
