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Saturday, 4 February 2012 |
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The hidden jobs market: how employers like to look for staff
Sunday, 23 February 2003
In his book, 'What color is your parachute', job-hunting guru Richard Nelson Bolles lists methods which employers typically use to fill empty positions. Bolles notes that job-hunters preferred methods of finding a job are in the reverse order of how employers like to fill a position. Understanding this presents unemployed IT workers with an edge over their competitors.
The methods that employers use, in order of preference are:
1. Fill the position from within
This usually involves promoting or transferring an existing empolyee, or transferring a contract or temp employee who is already working at the company. The advantages of this method to the employer are obvious. They are getting a known and proven resource who already understands the company and the project.
2. Get someone from outside who the employer knows, or at least comes highly recommended by someone the employer trusts
This may be someone the employer has already met and been impressed with. The person will usually be a highly-qualified candidate who has a proven track record and portfolio of work. It may also include a candidate who is referred by a colleague, friend or respected staff member. The advantages of this method are obvious. The only disadvantage is that the employer has never actually managed the person before.
3. Use a recruitment agency and/or the HR department
Employers use agencies and HR departments as a kind of filter. They rely on their database of candidates and the agency's supposed ability to only put forward the best candidates. This takes some of the work out of finding a decent candidate. However, agencies can be an expensive option. There is also the problem that, even if an agency doesn't have a decent candidate, they'll almost certainly send through some resumes on spec. If an employer is looking for someone with rare skills, they will most likely have to approach a lot of agencies, which means a lot of resumes and a lot of filtering work. Using this method also means the employer has to rely on unknown or relatively untrusted sources for guarantees of candidate quality.
4. Search through the unsolicited resumes that arrive over time
These resumes usually arrive with little explanation or pre-screening. They are often poor quality. This option requires a lot of work. At least the candidate has shown some level of initiative. There is also the disadvantage that, if the resume arrived more than a week or two ago, the employer doesn't know if the candidate is still available.
5. Post the job in the newspaper or on the internet
The employer can expect to get flooded with resumes. Many of those applying will have a negligible claim on qualification for the job. The employer can look forward to boring days of sifting through resumes and interviewing. No pre-screening is done, so the employer is likely to have to deal with many candidates who've obviously embellished their resumes. Experienced employers hate this option.
You will notice that as you move down the list, the amount of work the employer has to do increases with each option. You will also notice that the likelyhood of finding a decent candidate decreases.
So it makes sense that the higher up the list you can move with your method of applying for a job, the more likely you are to be offered the position. Unless you are currently working for a company with a position you wish to move in to, option 2 is your best bet. It may be only one option up from the typical method of using a recruitment agency, but the gap in preference for employers is vast.
The question is, how do you move up the preferred-method list to become the candidate in mehod 2? Brainbox will be exploring some strategies over the coming week.
Paul Knapp (editor@brainbox.com.au)
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