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                    Career Services

Back to Job Search Preparation

Student searching on computer
The Hidden Job Market
   What is it?
           Where is it?
                    How do I find it?

TWU Career Services

There is a huge hidden, or unadvertised job market.  It consists of the jobs that are not advertised publicly, and can make up 75% to 80% of the total job market.  The result is that the work you want may not be advertised at all or not advertised in traditional ways.  These positions are filled by – or created for – candidates who come to an employer’s attention through employee recommendations, referrals from trusted associates, recruiters, or direct contact with the candidate. 

WHERE TO START:
Once you have identified what it is you want from your job and your selling points
(see
Self Evaluation), which answers why should an employer hire you, it is then time to network and to begin a personal marketing campaign. 

  • Develop a list of personal and professional contacts.  Look to friends, business contacts, trade associations and other social organizations. 

  • Send your contacts an e-mail and/or call them on the phone.  Let them know that you are conducting a job search, and ask for suggestions or ideas that will point you in the direction of anyone they know who may be able to help continue pointing you further ahead. 

  • Every link in the chain of your job search counts.

"The average job campaign looks like this: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES."
-Tom Jackson, an expert on the job search


Using the hidden job market is a lot of work and often requires skills that are sometimes uncomfortable for many of us. 

  • Get help from Career Services on working your plan. 

  • Attending workshops hosted by Career Services will help you get “grounded” and solve problems along the way.  The hidden job market represents a great opportunity.  If this is the case, then it’s time to start looking harder and deeper. 

PRINTED & ELECTRONIC RESOURCES:
These may be obtained from Career Services, the TWU Library, other university
libraries, public libraries, or on the Internet.

 

America’s Corporate Families & International Affiliates

Chamber of Commerce Directories

Chronicles of Higher Education
Complete Guide to International Jobs & Careers

Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory
Directory of Corporate Affiliations
Directory of Directories
Dun & Bradstreet’s Business Rankings

Dun & Bradstreet’s Million Dollar Directory

Encyclopedia of Associations/ International Associations

Hoover’s Handbook of American Business (www.hoovers.com)

Hoover’s Handbook of Private Companies
International Business Listings (
www.worldpages.com)

International Directory of Company Histories

Moody’s Complete Corporate Index

National Business Employment Weekly
National Job Hotline Directory
National Trade and Professional Associations in US

Professional’s Job Finder

Standard and Poor’s Industry Surveys

The Directory of Executive Recruiters

The Internet 800 Directory (http://inter800.com)

Thomas Register of American Manufacturers

Where the Jobs Are:  A Comprehensive Directory of 1,200
                Journals Listing Career Opportunities

Yellow Pages Directory (www.smartpages.com)


 

Especially for Women

American Association of University Women (www.aauw.org)

Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Newsletter

Pathways to Career Success for Women: A Resource Guide to Colleges, Financial Aid, & Work

The Glass Ceiling (www.theglassceiling.com)

Wider Opportunities for Women (www.wowonline.org)

Women at Work

Women for Hire (www.womenforhire.com)

Women’s Issues in Higher Education

Women Mean Business

 

Career Services
P.O. Box 425619 ■ Denton, TX 76204-5619 ■ HDB Suite 200
Phone (940) 898-2950 ■ Fax (940) 898-2956 ■ E-mail: Careers@twu.edu
Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

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Updated October 12, 2007