Do the math

As we talk with more job seekers every week, it seems that a growing percentage of them are challenged with out-of-date job search skills. But even with those who've been in the job market in the past five years, we see low levels of outreach activity.

This was confirmed in a recent teleconference I attended through the Association of Career Professionals International (I'm a member and a former president of the KC chapter). The speaker was Orville Pierson, who is a senior executive and director of program design and service delivery for Lee Hecht Harrison, a leader in outplacement and career services (also the author of The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search and Highly Effective Networking). He has spent his entire career analyzing the metrics of job search activity, to be able to pinpoint what tends to work.

Mr. Pierson shared that the average unemployed job hunter spends five hours per week in search activity, compared with ten to twenty average hours spent by the executive level candidate. Reasons for low activity include a lack of organization, fear of rejection, and a lack of knowledge about how to proceed, among others.

Over time, he has concluded that the job seeker's overall search plan is more important than the resume, and that focus on the quantity of good contact work is the most influential variable in the success of the search! He's long been a believer that the successful job search plan will have qualified an initial target list of 40 to 50 companies. That's the initial list, just to have a place to start.

Here's the interesting part. He has determined that the average job seeker talks to 25 decision-makers before he/she gets an offer that results in a hire. And, that job seeker averages 15 networking conversations to get to each (1) decision-maker. 

So, do the math. That means in normal market conditions, an average job search could be expected to have close to 400 networking conversations to result in a new job. Those numbers are probably higher in the present situation.

That's why our personal and professional connections are so valuable to us. They are the most precious and effective part of any job search. They are golden!

And, that's why we advise so many of our job candidates and coaching clients to stop fooling around with their resumes and get busy making contact with human beings.

Tell us what you think of Mr. Pierson's formula. Does it match with your expectations or experience?