The hidden job market – an effective way of looking for a job

November 17, 2021 | CareerAngels | International Job Hunting

The hidden job market – an effective way of looking for a job

“I am looking for a job, I’ve been sending out my CV, but I have not received any response!” We hear sentences like that from our clients every day. Why does this happen? There can be many reasons for it – one of them is that many job ads “are not really real”. Why?

Job ads for experienced managers and executives can:
• be pro forma ads i.e. the positions have to be posted due to internal processes although the position has already been filled
• be published to research the market and competitors
• serve as relatively cost effective salary surveys
• attract relevant candidates to map out the market or create talent pools for the future

And aside from all that, there can simply be A LOT of applicants (the higher the position, the fewer opportunities, the bigger the competition) which means that if you are not in a certain batch of emails, your application doesn’t even get looked at. Or your CV doesn’t have the right keywords that match up with the job description.

What is the hidden job market?

The so-called “hidden job market” consists of opportunities that:
– are difficult to find (due to how / where they were published)
– rarely see the “light of the Internet” (“hidden away” on Intranets or closed platforms)
– are distributed by word of mouth
– are handled by Executive Search firms
– come directly from companies that contact e.g. us to recommend senior candidates

Every week, our Career Angels team spends several hours going through websites and hundreds of search results from job ad platforms to source these gems – we do that, so our community doesn’t have to as it’s our mission to actively support experienced job seekers.

The Hidden Job Market group

The purpose of the group is to give experienced managers and executives access to these so-called “hidden“ job market and “real” job ads in Europe – with an emphasis on opportunities for English speaking, international candidates that have minimum 10 years of experience.

So far, we have published:

If you are actively looking for a job, we recommend you review Hidden Job Market gems from previous weeks – as the job ads might still be active: Week 45, Week 44, Week 43. All our job ads are never older than 6 days!

Additional HJM Group resources

We want to share hidden job market gems from a variety of sources, so we’ve teamed up with partners:

Element [for Polish Speaker] selects about 70 fresh offers for experienced managers and executives in Poland – for our HJM community. Element is, in our opinion, the best recruitment system (ATS) in Poland. As part of their Job Monit functionality, you can access the largest database of recruitment needs in the Polish economy!

ShareHire also selects some of the most interesting job advertisements for HJM group members every two weeks. They are a pioneer in recruitment referral programs available online and via SMS. For several years now, they have been at the center of the digital and social media revolution in the area of attracting new employees and engaging existing ones!

Exparang is a privacy-based platform that opens doors to personalised career management. They give anonymised members, leaders and seasoned professionals, discreet continuous access to matching executive roles, board positions and pro-bono assignments. Membership is invite-only and free of charge.

Additional Bonuses for HJM members

If you are not sure if you are ready to apply you can ask us for help:

  • an objective and free CV Report
  • a so-called “ATS Compliance Report”

Simply send an email to Bichl.Sandra@CareerAngels.eu with your CV and indicate in the subject “CV Report / HJM” or “ATS Compliance Report / HJM”. Knowing the competitiveness of the market, your CV should score at least 80%.

If you’d like to discuss your current career plans or job search efforts, you can book a free and non-binding career consultation.