People often come to us and have the same issues. They are struggling to find an opportunity to showcase their skills in the workplace. These people have all the tools and capabilities to complete the job successfully, they just can’t find themselves an opportunity.

This is due to a myriad of unique challenges. For some people it’s due to the lack of experience, sometimes it’s because they don’t have local experience or it’s because no one will look at their resume. These are some of the many struggles people face every day, but did you know that 80% of positions are never posted online? And that roughly half the jobs advertised on seek are FAKE?

With these challenges to overcome, the power of networking has become all the more prevalent and necessary for job seekers.

Why do 80% of jobs never get posted online?

The simple answer is networking.

The best job opportunities are often afforded to those in that companies private network and it makes complete sense. Why would someone give someone like you a job, someone they don’t even now, over someone they have known and trusted for a long time? As an employer, they already know the capabilities of the candidate and can give them tasks directly suited to their strengths. The alternative is they give the job to a complete stranger that they have to invest time and money into before they know where their talents are best suited.

Now more than ever we see hiring through networks as the primary source for recruitment. But how do you network?

How do you actually network

Most people do have some sort of network that they can leverage off in the early stages of their career, but they just don’t realise it. A network can be family, friends, past work colleagues classmates etc. Anyone you have had some sort of interaction is a part of your network and it’s perfectly fine to ask them for help every once in a while.

Now I don’t mean ask your friends to get you a job at their company, simply let them know you are on the lookout for job in a particular field and if anything comes up ask them to contact you. Most people are happy to help friends find opportunities, what they don’t want is to be given the pressure of finding you a job. By asking them in this manner you open yourself up to the opportunities they can offer without giving them additional stress.

Reaching out to your network will help take some of the pressure off yourself. It’s like you have a team of people working for you to help you find a job, of course you keep searching, but taking this route means you don’t have to do it all alone.

Think about networking this way as well, if you reach out to your network of 50 people and those 50 people know 50 people that 2,500 people that could find out that you are looking for an opportunity.

It’s never too late to begin, you just have to take the leap and see what happens.