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In Portland OR it's networking, networking, networking, networking in pretty much every field. Not that you can't find something any other way but the best is to be had by networking. Employers love recommendations. Due to with the huge amount of competition for jobs here, recommendations from an imcumbant employee is worth it's weight in gold. It gives employers an little more insight about the person applying for the job.
Every job I have ever gotten in Portland with one exception, has been through either a former co-worker who moved on to something better and then recommened me or through a friend. The best job I ever had was one in which the HR department had turned me down twice but the third time a friend got me in to see the supervisor directly who hired me on the spot bypassing HR. I was there for many years until I retired.
actually, networking is the key to finding a respectable job in any major city throughout the world. All other methods will only give you a sliver of hope, with a meager margin of success.
"Networking" is overrated, unless you want a job shaving sheep at your grandpa's ranch.
For any other organization, business, government agency, corporation, or non-profit in America, these entities will have a human resources department whose full-time function is to post new jobs and pick qualified applicants through a very controlled process. Will these organizations ignore other qualified applicants just because your Uncle Billy Bob happens to work there? I don't think so. Unless your HR department is lousy or corrupt, and Uncle Billy Bob is paying them off, you are simply another applicant and will get in line just like everybody else.
Ever since college, I have applied for 3 jobs, and was hired in 2 of those instances by simply going to the agency's website, and applying directly. And this was during the Great Recession. None of this "networking" nonsense was involved. For the 3rd job, it was an internal promotion where I was transferred overseas.
"Networking" is overrated, unless you want a job shaving sheep at your grandpa's ranch.
For any other organization, business, government agency, corporation, or non-profit in America, these entities will have a human resources department whose full-time function is to post new jobs and pick qualified applicants through a very controlled process. Will these organizations ignore other qualified applicants just because your Uncle Billy Bob happens to work there? I don't think so. Unless your HR department is lousy or corrupt, and Uncle Billy Bob is paying them off, you are simply another applicant and will get in line just like everybody else.
Ever since college, I have applied for 3 jobs, and was hired in 2 of those instances by simply going to the agency's website, and applying directly. And this was during the Great Recession. None of this "networking" nonsense was involved. For the 3rd job, it was an internal promotion where I was transferred overseas.
That's great Evan! But you are using a sample size of one to validate your argument. Networking is a primary key to success, and I'm not talking about blind networking. Unless there's an opening for a highly specialized trade or skill like a osteopathic foot surgeon, a levee building civil engineer, or an orthodontic invisalign specialist, networking is one of the surest ways someone can quickly land a job. If that were not true, there would be hundreds of thousands of additional job openings all over the internet where people would actually get call backs. My firm of 5,000+ has an HR department that encourages leads and recommendations from internal employees. Even my sister who works for Corporate AT&T Western Division encourages leads and recommendations from internal employees. I know of at least two defense contracting firms in the San Diego area that are the exact same way, and even Qualcomm and Sharp Medical who give preference to recommended job applicants.
Evan when you give the example of your grandpa's sheep ranch, I think you are confusing nepotism with networking. They are two entirely different things.
Portland for example, is a very insular town where people know people who know people. It's been that way ever since I have moved here 35 years ago and was before from what people tell me.
That's not only true in jobs but in a way it also can be said for getting good apartments as well with the very low vacancy rate we have here. Perhaps the fierce competition for both adds to the need for networking as well.
Of course these things can and have been achieved without networking. Nothing is ever 100%. In the workplace employers and HR departments for the most part value referrals because they know a little bit more about whom they are getting from an already trusted employee.
As an example, my co-workers and I have been asked either for referrals or recommendations for applicants applying at a company where we were working because it gives them a better insight into the person applying for the job. If someone already on the job knows an applicant it sets them apart from all the rest.
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