Old School Networking Still Lands People the Most Jobs

How did you get the job that you have now?  Did a friend put in a good word for you?  Or a friend of a friend of a friend?  Or did you just call up the organization and see if they were interested in meeting with you?

Although a huge  percentage of people find themselves using internet job boards, old-fashioned networking remains the dominant way people find new jobs, according to a study by Right Management.  Their research showed that person-to-person networking trumps other job-seeking tactics.

Right Management, a wing of Manpower Group, based their research on data from 60,000 people it provided career transition services over the past three years.  They found that traditional networking was the source of new career opportunities for 41% of job candidates last year, while Internet job boards accounted for 25% of new positions landed.

In addition, the research showed that eight percent still found a direct approach effective.  Maybe this means calling up a firm and asking for an interview or showing up smilingly at the front door.  While there is a dominant rhetoric that dismisses these bold maneuvers, the study suggest that there is still a time and a place for an element of surprise.

“The job search is changing and some approaches are losing ground to others, but classic, systematic networking continues to be most effective way to find suitable employment,” said Carly McVey, Right Management’s Vice President of Career Management. “Certainly technology plays a growing role. But online social networking may not always be separate from traditional networking since one so often leads to the other. A job seeker uses the Internet to track down former associates or acquaintances and then reaches out to them in person. And, just like a cold call, the Internet is a way to make an initial contact with a prospective employer.”