Looking for Advice

[Henry Spencer]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003, Phillip Mills wrote:
> ...It seems that most jobs are being 
> obtained right now (in IT) through personal contacts rather than 
> through open competition.

Personal contacts make a big difference even in more prosperous times.

It's *always* been true that -- except where laws or regulations or union
contracts tightly restrict the hiring process -- most good jobs appear on
the grapevine well before they show up in the papers, and consequently a
lot of them are filled via the grapevine and never even reach the papers. 
Only during the dot-com bubble were companies so desperate for people that
this often didn't happen. 

Mostly this is just the nature of the process.  Someone you're talking to
will say "hmm, you know, we're starting to need someone who can do that --
would you be interested if we have an opening?".  The word goes out by
personal contact well before there has actually been any decision to hire. 

> If you have clients who are happy with you, try them for leads...all of 
> them!  Do any of the people you've met through George Brown know 
> anybody?

Exactly.  Anybody you've already worked with should at least be told that
you're looking.

                                                          Henry Spencer
                                                       henry-lqW1N6Cllo0sV2N9l4h3zg at public.gmane.org

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