How Are Others Doing Job Search?

From the beginning of JibberJobber we designed it so that you see first Contacts, then Companies, then Jobs.

This was a subliminal and purposeful order so that you would first think about contacts and networking. “They” say that 85% of jobs are found through networking, and anywhere from 2% to 14% of jobs are found through job postings.  So why not focus on networking, instead of trying to focus on applying to posted jobs?  That’s what “they” say we should do.

Anyway, I just looked at some stats on JibberJobber and found that the most popular section in JibberJobber is the Contacts section. This was pretty awesome to see… people are using JibberJobber to manage their network. GOOD JOB!

The next most popular, neck-and-neck, is the Jobs section. This is where people are going to organize and track postings, contact points, etc. This is not surprising, and it’s really quite important… but it still is cool to me that the Contacts section (barely) beat it in popularity/use.

Coming in at about less than 1/2 of what those sections got was the Companies section. I get that. When I started my job search I didn’t understand the value of target companies, and how they play a role in my job search. Maybe other JibberJobber users have the same confusion, OR, maybe they are applying to multiple openings at the same company (which makes sense).

I find this data and usage interesting. Here’s my ask of you:

Please think about, consider, and reconsider how TARGET COMPANIES play into your job search strategy. 

Target companies could drive your decisions about who to talk to, where to focus your informational interviews, where to spend your time, what roles to apply to (maybe you are looking for X, but your target company needs X+Y or X-Y… does it make sense to look at the opportunities of where you want to be and what you can or want to do?  I’m not saying to drop everything for the company, but if the company is right, maybe it makes sense to adjust your career trajectory a bit to get in the right place (or, as Jim Collins (Good to Great) would say, to get on the right bus).