Survey shows only 28% of jobs found through networking (an Unmoderated post)

I trust Gerry Crispin. So should you. He is not a career branding "expert" or any other type of new media blow hard. He has data. Real data. Dare I say "Big Data"? He doesn't make up stats and figures to promote his business.

Why do I bring this up? Well - it seems some people in the "how to network" coaching business want you to believe that 80% of the job openings are being filled through networking. And where does that stat come from? Who knows....? Not Gerry Crispin.

Where does Gerry get his info? From 35 GIANT companies that (combined) filled 1.2 million + vacancies last year. I'd call that "substantial"? Wouldn't you?

I found the info on his site - Career X Roads quite informative. Take a look under the "Resources" tab - and you'll find this survey under Articles.

(In case anyone wants to know how companies really hire people)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on April 2, 2012 at 5:40pm: @Amy you are more than right. Follow the generally accepted protocol about applying for a job, networking is so overhyped at this point that more people are getting declined because they start trying to "network" with people inside the company and become a pain in the tail. The referrals that work are those where somebody knows someone who might be a fit, tells them to apply for the job, then let's the hiring manager or internal recruiter know that they have referred them so if they like what they see on the resume and want more info to ask. Very seldom can one of your networking buddies "get you in" but they can sure get you knocked out and cause themselves some problems along the way.

The classic case i can recount is the district sales guy i sent to a company in Phoenix. Everything was going along pretty well until he mentioned that he networked a lot with one of their Sr. people and asked her to put in a good word for him. What he didn't know was they were about to fire her because she had hired a bunch of her buddies who were problems. Not only did they clean house to get rid of her "network", he got declined five minutes after he walked out of the interview. Networked himself right out of a job he probably would have gotten if he had kept his mouth shut about who he knew and talked about what he knew.

Comment by Bill Schultz on April 2, 2012 at 5:58pm: Really? I would say you're still much better off going through someone you know or networking straight to the hiring manager. The off chance that the person is held in low regard is far offset by the advantages of not going to the bottom pile of some paid by the hour flunky.. .

Sandra, I'm sure you could tell stories of the perfect candidate laying in that pile until you sourced them out and woke Rip Van Internal Recruiter from her slumber.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on April 2, 2012 at 6:25pm: I think that used to be the case Bill but i am seeing fewer and fewer of those paid by the hour flunkies. The internals i work with now know their stuff. The keyword is someone you "know" as in they know you from someplace besides a facebook, linkedin or twitter so called networking mess. I didn't say don't make contacts with people who know you. But, more times than not now those folks will tell you that you have to apply through the right channels. Nothing spurs on internal more to find great candidates than to have a candidate roll downhill because they went around HR. I honestly do not see qualified candidates going to the bottom of the pile if they fit and have even a semi decent resume.

I have had candidates ask me to introduce them to the CFO of a company that i have sent their resume to because the CFO has me on his contact list. Uh , no. We are not "networking" with the Sr. executives who are not involved in this hiring decision at all.

Comment by Bill Schultz on April 2, 2012 at 6:41pm: I still see it all the time in high growth companies. I present a candidate and tell the hiring mgr s/he may have applied before. Turns out they were sitting in Jobvite for months. And the word "qualified" to you and me and the hiring manager (and Amy, of course) means something very different than a key word match.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on April 2, 2012 at 6:41pm: What Sandra said.

Comment by Bill Schultz on April 2, 2012 at 6:51pm: Nothing spurs on internal more to find great candidates than to have a candidate roll downhill because they went around HR

you mean, they'd rather search for other candidates than work with this qualified person who went around them? That's teamwork!

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on April 2, 2012 at 6:58pm: lol Bill I love QUALITY referrals... :) If a top performer can pass along a name of someone that got trapped in Taleo and I missed them when they applied - frankly I view that as they've saved my tush and not let me miss a good person!

"quality" being the key word here...

Comment by Bill Schultz on April 2, 2012 at 7:27pm: 28% of internal recruiters think like you. None in Silicon Valley.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on April 2, 2012 at 7:44pm: Not even one in Silicon Valley? Hidden away somewhere? :)

We just had a guy start today that I missed (well, bypassed). If his buddy that works here hadn't asked me if he was being considered for a position I wouldn't have called him. Tush saved.

Comment by Bill Schultz on April 2, 2012 at 8:12pm: Wll it makes sense, right? The market is so good for TPR's that you only go inside if you... well, I don't know why..

But it would follow that the internals are: less qualified+ runaway hiring= people getting passed up

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