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The published job market is jobs that are made available to the public via classified ads, postings, websites, online databases, and recruiter listings. In order to access the published job market, I like to go to employment databases like USAjobs.com or Indeed.com. The jobs that I am interested in, I will revise my resume to list specific words that are listed in the job posting. I feel like this helps the prospective employer to select my resume and review.

The hidden job market is jobs that are not advertised to the public but shared via word of mouth. I find this part difficult only because I move quite a bit with the military. So, every two to three years I’m in a new place with either a large job applicant pool or very little. When this does happen, I reach out to previous friends and coworkers that have lived in the new area I moved to. Many times, I can have them tell me who to contact to look for employment.

If I was already a professional in my field of Human Resources, I would network with former workers and keep the lines of communication open with them. This would benefit me to determine if new positions in my field are more lucrative than the current job. Also, maintaining contacts with old school mates have helped me to stay focused on my goals in Human Resources. I have several high school friends that work in the same field for major national companies. By maintaining these contacts, it is possible that they will inform me of certain job openings in my area. Having these kinds of contacts is incredibly important. This could even lead to gaining recruits for my future company. The hidden job market is nothing but a win-win tactic.