Tips on tapping the hidden job market

Last week's dispiriting news that the nation's unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent dealt a staggering blow to the theory that the economic recovery we are (allegedly) experiencing will come with new job opportunities. It now appears that this will, indeed, be a "jobless recovery," with unemployment inching above 10 percent for the foreseeable future. Add in those who have either dropped off the unemployment ledgers or stopped searching and the "true unemployment" rate is closer to 17 percent.

Duncan Mathison, a former vice president of career consulting firm Drake Beam Morin, acknowledges that the pain is still severe for job seekers out there, but he says this is no time to give up on looking for employment. The problem is, he says, most people are looking in the wrong places. Up to 70 percent of all jobs currently being offered are never advertised or published on job boards.

In his latest book, "Unlock the Hidden Job Market: 6 Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times are Tough," co-authored with career expert Martha I. Finney, Mathison talks about these "hidden jobs" and provides a set of "survival tips" on how savvy job seekers can uncover them.

1. Prepare for an extended search. For most job seekers already out of work today, this almost goes without saying. But if you've recently been laid off or are just beginning a job search, Mathison recommends that you adjust your expectations immediately for daily search activities that may continue for many months rather than trying to wait out the recession. "Stopping the search until the economy improves is like the farmer who will go hungry at harvest because they didn't plant seeds in the spring," he says. "Do not give up. Keep planting those seeds."

2. Don't waste time on long-shots. Many job seekers start to panic if they get few responses in the first few weeks and begin applying for jobs outside their areas of expertise and in other geographical areas. "This is a dead-end strategy," Mathison says. "You will only face more painful rejection and depressing stories of 500 applicants to 1 job. When it comes to job postings: focus, focus, focus."

3. Your dream job may not be advertised. Instead of waiting to find your next job, you have to ask for it, Mathison says. As recruiting budgets shrink, most hiring managers are relying on "informal word-of-mouth strategies" that require job seekers to be more attentive to changes in the market. "Job seekers must significantly expand the quality and quantity of their networking efforts to find unpublished jobs," he says.

4. Leave the resume at home. "The secret to good networking is to help your network help you," Mathison says. Instead of handing out resumes, he advises, give everyone in your network of contacts a list of 50 to 75 employers that you think would hire people with your unique set of skills. Also, don't ask if the companies are hiring, he says. Instead, find out if anyone in your network knows people who work in these companies--hiring managers are always a plus.

5. Contact managers directly. Though it may seem counterintuitive to those accustomed to seeing "no calls" notices on innumerable job listings, Mathison says it's best to be the first to make contact with hiring managers--provided it's done with skill. A sample introduction might be: "I understand you have people with my kind of background and skills working for you. I don't assume to know if you have job openings but I would like to meet you and learn more about the type of people you like to have on your team and share with you a bit about my background."

"They may say 'sure,' they may say 'send a resume' or they may say 'no,' but now they know about you," Mathison adds. "Remember the only thing managers can do to assure their success is to meet and hire great people. And that's you."

Writer and editor Randy Woods has filled out more job applications than he can count -- so you don't have to. Email him at hireground@nwjobs.com.