How are people finding jobs? It’s an important question, of course, and knowing the answer enables you to make sure you’re in charge of the employment changes in your career.

Traditionally, employers get the answer from “source of hire” surveys. These surveys poll employees to determine how their heard about their job. It seems like a reasonable approach but in fact, has two serious disadvantages:
• First, recruiters collect candidate data from their applicant tracking system, a computerized database which most large and small employers use to receive and store employees’ resumes. But, the survey forces employees to pick from out-of-date list of options. As a result, the data they provide to employers is inaccurate.
• Second, source of hire surveys sample a very small population of employers and collect the data they report as averages. They then establish an overall set of results by using the employers’ averages, an approach which can overemphasize data trends and minimize important data anomalies.

• To avoid these deficiencies, Weddle’s launched a Source of Employment Survey last year and found the following benefits:
  • It gets information directly from job seekers and employees, and avoids the distorting filter of applicant tracking systems and any inaccuracies.
  • It samples a huge population. WEDDLE’s 2007 report is based on a survey of more than 11,500 respondents. The data was collected between Jan. 1, 2007 and July 31, 2007 at the WEDDLE’s website, www.weddles.com.

Our 2007 survey confirmed previously reported trends and found a couple of surprises. As shown below, the five best sources of employment are online job boards, staffing and executive search firms, tips from friends and family members, networking in a business context, and two methods that have been pooh-poohed recently by career fairs and newspapers.

• The No.1 source of employment: 13.22 percent of respondents answer ads and post resumes on job boards
  
• The No.2 source of employment: 11.3 percent followed up on a lead from a headhunter or staffing firm 
  
• The No.3 source of employment: 11.1 percent got a tip from a friend or family member
  
• The No.4 source of employment: 10.5 percent network at work or at a business event
• The No.5 source of employment: 5.8 percent went to career fairs and answered an ad in a newspaper.

As you can see, these five sources accounted for almost six out of 10 (57.7 percent) of the positions that people took during their last job search.

What were the least helpful sources of employment?

• Networking at a social event
• Answering an ad in a publication of their professional association
• Using a social networking site 
• Sending a resume directly to an employer 
• Responding to a notice posted in a store

We have learned from these results that while social networking sites and organizations have their benefits, one of them is clearly not finding a job. Second, while associations serve a number of important functions, many are apparently not doing enough when it comes to connecting their members to the employment opportunities they want. And third, lots of employers aren’t doing much better. In an age that is based on electronic communication, such crude recruiting tactics as placing placards in a window are the functional equivalent of sending out smoke signals.

What should you do about these findings? I have the following suggestions:

• Devote more time to online or networking. I’m not suggesting that you forego traditional networking, but rather that you augment those one-on-one methods with the Web’s capacity for building relationships. Online networking involves your communicating by e-mail with your peers at discussion forums and bulletin boards hosted on commercial job boards and other career sites. To get the best results, I recommend that you invest 30 minutes twice a week, but no more, to e-networking. It’s very effective, but it’s also very seductive so you need to manage your involvement carefully.
  
• Use all of job search and career advancement methods. As our survey indicates, job boards work. One out of every seven people found a job that way. The key is to select the job boards that will work best for you. With 40,000 sites now operating in the United States alone, you have to be a good consumer (and, of course, WEDDLE’s Guides can help). In addition, take advantage of career fairs and newspaper ads and talk with friends and family members and your colleagues at work about your employment goals. Yes, that requires a fair bit of effort, but each and every one of those activities is important. Why? Because there is no silver bullet. The most productive strategy for finding a new or better job is to undertake an array of activities that will expose you to the largest possible number of people and prospective employment opportunities. And the top five methods identified in the WEDDLE’s 2007 Source of Employment Survey is a good place to start.

The WEDDLE’s Source of Employment Survey will be reported here in my newsletter each year in September. We hope it helps you to maximize the success you achieve when looking for a new or better job and, as a result, the satisfaction and rewards you derive from your work.