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 8:35pm: Big word that ..qualified.. as opposed to one who rolled downhill because he networked the hiring manager. Now he will "network the hell out of somebody in HR or any and everybody in the company that he can find on Linkedin or twitter. What i am seeing in the wave of networking craze is a ton of those who have those "transferrable skills", read, they don't know squat about what the position requires but they are sure they could do it, after all they didn't know anything about what they did in their last job when they started.

Comment by Bob McIntosh on April 2, 2012 at 8:41pm: If I may poke my head into the conversation, I'd like to return to my previous question (what constitutes networking?), though it appears y'all have gone off in a different direction--great rhetoric. I see networking as doing it the ole fashion way, e.g., attending events that are extremely uncomfortable for me; getting leads from superficial connections; eliciting the help of recruiters--a large part of networking, as recruiters often have the inside track; referrals, the preferred method of hiring; online networks like LinkedIn; basically anything other than using the job boards and company websites.

I agree that percentages are overblown, but what else do we have to hang our hat on--Sandra, Amy, Bill, Jerry, Karen, Richard Bolles, et all say networking is majorly or minorly effective? I do agree that 80% is high. The DOL claims 60% of jobseekers find work through networking. So, who's to say? 28%? Who's this favoring? Also, who are we talking about? Certain industries do better using certain methods than others.

Comment by Bill Schultz on April 2, 2012 at 8:48pm: @ Sandra- yes, as opposed to that. Obviously I'm talking about the "appropriate" candidate.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on April 3, 2012 at 9:41am: @Bill I thought we were past general statements about internal recruiters and their apparent lack of recruiting skills... You really think we go inside only if we suck at "real" recruiting?

Networking is a valuable tool in moderation- just like anything else.

Comment by Jerry Albright on April 3, 2012 at 10:32am: Hey everybody - thanks for participating in this UnModerated discussion. You'll note how the conversation was able to keep on going without my personal approval of each comment. Note: I would have approved them all except one of Sandra's earlier replies. She can get a bit "snippy". :)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on April 3, 2012 at 11:54am: Feel free to delete any of my "snippy" comments. I will just start smother discussion and take "snippy" to a whole different level. 26% snippy as opposed to 80% snippy, if you will :)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on April 3, 2012 at 11:56am: Should be another not smother. I love autocorrect, albeit sometimes it gets Freudian. Ha!

Comment by Jerry Albright on April 3, 2012 at 11:58am: Sandra - one more attack and I'm shutting this down.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on April 3, 2012 at 12:09pm: If this were two years ago we would now get those blasts about censorship, bullying and someone would post the Collumbine pledge. :)