If you are in a job search, you've probably heard about contacting the "hiring manager," instead of human resources, to learn about openings before they're posted. The advice is logical and effective.
There's only one problem, as I've been reminded lately through conversations with some literal-minded job-seekers: In most companies, there's no specific employee who holds that job title. Imagine the frustration of being told to contact someone, only to learn that the person doesn't exist.
So we'll start over. This concept is so important to the success of your job search that it's worth a review. When career advisers talk about contacting the "hiring manager," they're really describing a key entry point into the so-called "hidden" job market.
This is not a parallel universe where the successful job-seekers live. It really just describes the majority of jobs that aren't advertised broadly, if at all. By some estimates, the percentage of "hidden" (unadvertised) jobs ranges from 80 percent to 95 percent of the openings in your geographic area.
So how do you find these "hidden" jobs? Of course, one answer you've heard is that you will find your next job through networking. You will meet someone who knows someone who heard of someone who has a need for someone just like you. Somehow the word will get back to you, and you're in like Flynn. This actually may happen. People really do get jobs through fifth-degree connections.
Unfortunately, not very many people seem interested in or capable of networking effectively. They make one connection but don't follow up; they go to a networking meeting but sit in the back; they attend a class reunion and don't mention that they're looking for work. It's enough to make a career counselor weep.
But when I'm done sobbing, I always come back to the same truth: Networking is overrated, anyway. The problem with this technique is that too much is out of the job-seeker's hands. No matter how well you connect with people, you can't make them remember you when they talk to the next person.
This is why I like the targeted job-search method for ferreting out unadvertised job openings. In this process, the job-seeker defines the job title he or she is seeking, creates a list of companies to approach (hence the term "targeted") and starts contacting them, regardless of whether they are advertising.
The theory, which is rock-solid as far as I'm concerned, is that employers prefer to fill openings without formal searches. By contacting the company before a formal search has been launched, the enterprising candidate has a better chance of being hired quickly.
The linchpin of this strategy brings us back to the original issue: You must contact the appropriate person to succeed. At the earliest stages of a position opening, that person is not in human resources, as this department likely won't be brought into the picture until a formal search is launched. The right person to contact is the hiring manager, of course.
And the hiring manager is . . .? The person who heads the department in which you want to work. Just remember that the term "hiring manager" is conceptual and you'll be fine. No one uses this term except for career counselors, so don't use it when you call the company. Instead, ask for the name of the manager of the department in which you want to work.
If he or she hires you, you will have found the hiring manager.
- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecare rservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.