Why Targeting Your Job Market Gets You More Interviews And Offers

Did you know that 80% of jobs are filled before they are advertised? That's why relying only on jobs you find posted on job boards is like slapping the handcuffs on your job search.

Identifying your target market or industries is one of the steps you need to take if you are wanting to break free of job board reliance and start taking the initiative that is going to bring you more quality job interviews and offers! Maybe you know your market really well - in which case this could be a really fun and simple step for you as you write down all your industries, sub industries, geographic preferences and favorite "A" list companies.

If you are looking to change industries, which will make this step more demanding of your time and attention. Spend some time brainstorming on sub industries and parallel industries because sometimes you can find plenty of opportunities here that strengthen your transferrable skills.

You may want to conduct some mentoring sessions with people in potential industries that you would like to know more about. Don't worry that you are "bothering" people. Most people are happy to help and flattered to be interviewed.

As you identify and/or research industries, there are many ways out there to identify target markets including lists, associations, business and trade journals, even the phone book to find companies that fall in your ideal category.

You need to ultimately begin to build your list (e.g. your top list of companies you would "consider" in your next move). Now you are empowered and choosing what companies are a potential good fit for YOU (versus waiting around for the right posted job to come around)! You will probably have this step as an ongoing step during your transition process as you continue to find companies that match your background and or interests.

Most employers - big or small follow the same grass-roots system (whether they realize it or not) for hiring good productive employees. They will look at resumes they currently have on file, ask around (both within and outside of their company), share the open positions with their team and offer a referral fee for those who might refer qualified candidates, post the position with related associations or on their company website or they will share the position with recruiters. Generally posting a position to a paid major job board is at the bottom of a companies' list, of methods to find top talent.

You will reap many benefits from learning how to do what I call "the reverse job search". The interest you will generate from this approach far exceeds the 3 or 4 percent return on the investment of your time posting resumes on the internet.