I have previously reported on the hidden job market and how 85% of all jobs are never posted. So what about the jobs we see posted every day in newspapers or on the internet? What’s the deal with them? There may be a variety of reasons why companies post jobs.
Many companies are required to post jobs whether a candidate is already selected for the position or not. A staffing agency informed me that they will advertise for a position to get a pool of candidates to have on hand in the event they are approached by a company seeking someone for that particular position. I have personally witnessed a two-day long interviewing event in which the hiring committee had already decided who would be hired before the first applicant walked through the door.
I don’t mean to discourage you from applying for jobs that are posted. After all, the job I had been holding for nearly two years was one I found in the newspaper. I just want you to be aware that if only 15% of jobs are found that way, then maybe you should keep that in mind during your job search and divide your time in an equal fashion. Don’t spend 100% of your time applying for only 15% of jobs.
I recently found myself applying and interviewing for a posted job. I heard through the grapevine that the job was going to an employee who was already working in the department. Much like with any gossip, I took it with a grain of salt. When I walked in for the interview and found out the interviews had been scheduled 15 minutes apart, I was beginning to think there may have been something to the rumor I had heard. In all of my years interviewing and being interviewed, I have never had such a short amount of time to assess whether or not someone was an ideal candidate.
The truth is, we will probably not know if a job was intended for a specific person or not. We can only carry on and play the game, hoping that eventually it will pay off for us in the end. I guess the worst that will happen is that we will get some interviewing and cover letter writing practice, right? Never-the-less, it will inevitably leave us disappointed at some point thinking in the words of Deana Carter, “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” The answer will be….”Unfortunately”!
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