Good morning!
Every 3-6 months, Hiring/Recruiting/Jobseeker Social Media buzzes over the debate of the “hidden job market.” There are plenty of takes, but not a lot of concrete information.
What is the “hidden job market”? A place where 6 figure jobs grow on trees and all interview processes are quick and painless? Sign me up. Does it exist? Sort of. But the concept is a bit overrated.
Yes, there are jobs that aren’t posted due to the confidentiality. There could be someone in the role right now. Or companies don't want internal or external people to know about certain strategic initiatives. And plenty of people get jobs through their network before they ever truly open to the public. The former has and always will be a part of the hiring landscape. And the latter comes down to being well-networked. Having previous colleagues think highly of you helps an awful lot too.
All of it seems like common sense, but I recognize not everyone has been intimately involved in search/hiring for 20+ years.
I’m starting to rethink the concept a bit. My colleague Michelle Mehlis wrote an article about pay transparency a few months ago. Pay transparency is something I 100% believe in. But there are going to be a lot of unintended consequences. One of them may be to move more jobs to the “hidden job market.”
Full disclosure - this wasn’t my idea initially. I was interviewed by Callum Borchers of The Wall Street Journal (NBD) about the topic. I guess he liked what I had to say enough to quote me once or twice. Check it out!
Recruiting 101 - Evaluating Salaries
Camille and Kierra sit down to chat about salary in this episode of Recruiting 101. They share how you can evaluate your targeted salary, when to bring it up in the interview process, and tips for discussing salary expectations with a recruiter.
