Pat O'Donnell's Placement Genius

There are lots of books and courses available on how to use LinkedIn with the standard messages and tools. But those courses tend to produce users who think that if being listed in the software is good using it heavily without further thought is better. I disagree.

1. In the Twin Cities Metro there are 4K LinkedIn listings with “marketing communications” mentioned, 59K with “sales,” and 31K with “engineer.” 65% social media participants users use to stay in touch with friends, 47% use social media “for work” and but only 26-28% use it for “career search.” (more…)

In the current housing market, most clients will avoid trying to move someone. I have worked with job-seekers who had an offer in a new city but then were told by realtors it would be 8-12 months before they could expect to sell their house in the previous location. Unless you are very senior, a new employer is unlikely to want to take on your transition housing costs. Add to that the possibility of having wife, kids, and husband in separate locations for the 8 months and you have a recipe for divorce. (more…)

Most job hunters do not know how to market to the “Hidden Job Market.” If you find yourself saying, “That’s me. I don’t know how to do that,” then listen up. Not only is this job market hidden from you, YOU are invisible to all the people awarding jobs in the Hidden Job Market.

A job is said to be “hidden” when it is not public knowledge (such as being posted in a newspaper or on a job-posting site like www.monster.com.) Very early in the life cycle of a job posting it is only known by the hiring manager and perhaps 2-3 key execs who work closely with the hiring manager. It frequently is not even approved by HR before the hiring manager has 2-3 candidates in mind he intends to interview and is biased towards because they were recommended by someone he knows well.

Industry studies show that 30-35% of people hired are identified before the knowledge of the opening gets beyond this stage. (more…)