This does not mean there are a select number of positions known only to some privileged group. It simply means that companies seeking to fill a new position ask their staff to put out feelers. Individuals seeking new positions also put out feelers. Sometimes they meet directly and, at other times, they meet through third parties.

Reasons employers often bypass traditional hiring include:

• Confidentiality
• Cost
• Time
• Risk
• Internal placement
• Drawing from the hidden market

Networking is the most effective means of accessing the hidden market. Its principles are easy to master and must be particularly embraced by those between jobs. It is vital that those in certain other categories also make networking the centrepiece of their career search strategy.

Your first task in networking is to compile a list of your target organisations. Scour the web during your research to identify organisations that might interest you and try to identify decision makers if you can.

Management Consultants are a particularly rich source of contacts, e.g. those with whom you may have worked. Remember, these professionals have extensive dealings with potential employers and often have inside information about potential needs with their client companies and organisations.

Make sure your letters are grammatically perfect (remember, spell check!) and that you have proper layout.

A good starting point is to compile a list of roughly 100 (or more) contacts from researching company websites. This target list will be the foundation of your networking framework when using the direct mail approach and your results will generally rate a 35% to 50% response.   

Give careful thought to the approach you are going to take either in letter communication or on the phone before you follow up with each person and rehearse your words so that they come over confidently.

Successful networking by phones depends on bypassing gatekeepers (such as secretaries, PA’s, administrators, receptionists etc). Your heartfelt request for help is unlikely to gain a spontaneous ‘yes’ if conveyed by gatekeeper along the lines of ‘there’s a Mr X on line and he wants to meet you so you can help him find a job. 

Once you have made contact with the person with whom you wish to arrange a meeting, try to avoid putting them in a position where they start to say ‘Why don’t you put your resume in the mail and I will get back to you with my thoughts?’ If they get to say this it means the end of the road for that line of networking.

You will have a far more effective networking meeting with anybody if you have thoroughly researched their company or organisation and show an awareness of profit and turnover trends, acquisitions, major product launches, new business initiatives, competitive threats and industry trends.

Your main objective in the networking meeting must be very clear in your mind from the outset, and must be made equally clear to your contact. You are there to obtain information and advice, not a job. Networking is a marketing activity. Interviewing is a selling activity. If it becomes appropriate to switch from the former to the latter, it must be handled properly, or you will appear to be operating under false pretences.

As you network you will notice that certain companies or organisations are repeatedly suggested by your contacts. You will also have been researching these and other companies. Your next step is to refine your list of companies where you feel you could make a contribution and where, for a variety of reasons, you would like to work.

The procedure for the target networking meeting (an employer of interest) is basically as previously explained. Before you meet your target networking contact, however, it is essential that you research their company very thoroughly.

At some point during the meeting, your contact’s body language and the flavour of the conversation may change. Your contact may start to ask interview style questions, and to relate aspects of your achievements and skills to some unknown requirements.

For a variety of reasons, the need to access the hidden market over long distances is increasing. In many cases, individuals who have relocated to cities other than their hometown seek ways of returning to their home areas.

Ninety percent of people will see you, for one or more of the following reasons: they are flattered that you are seeking their advice; it can expand their network; the meeting may provide them with fresh ideas; and you may have mentioned a mutual friend to whom they feel obligated.