But job boards, online networking gaining ground
Person-to-person networking continues to be the most successful tool for Canadian jobseekers, according to a survey by Right Management.
“From year to year, the data say that traditional networking is nearly twice as successful as any other job search method,” said Monika Morrow, Right Management’s senior vice-president for career management. “People tend to trust people they meet.”
Traditional networking was the source of new employment for 35 per cent of job candidates in 2010, while Internet job boards accounted for 24 per cent of the new positions landed, found the survey of 5,858 jobseekers across the country.
“The job search is changing and some approaches are losing ground to others, but classic, systematic networking continues to be most effective way to find suitable employment,” said Morrow. “Of course, technology is playing a growing role. But online social networking may not always be separate from traditional networking since one so often leads to the other.”
In 2010, for the first time, “Online network” was made a separate category and cited by five per cent of respondents as a source of new employment.
For 10 per cent of respondents, the direct approach (or cold calling) was an effective tool for obtaining new employment, found the survey.
Newspaper or periodical classified ads continue their decline as a source of new employment, with only three per cent of respondents having success through this method.
And agencies, recruiters and search firms may be regaining their place in the mix, perhaps as a result of a strengthening job market, with 13 per cent of respondents gaining new employment this way, found the survey.
