How Companies Hire

Not long ago, the classified employment section of your Sunday newspaper was the primary means by which employers connected with potential job seekers. But then along came the Internet with its job boards, corporate websites, and world-wide access. Now, most job seekers believe they can have almost immediate access to any publicly-posted job vacancy in any company anywhere. As wonderful as this may sound, it’s not quite as simple as that.

Long before the industrial revolution, humans were building communities, cooperatives, and business concerns. Our ancestors found comfort in living and working with people they knew and trusted. This innately human characteristic certainly contributed greatly to what we once called "the old-boy network." Today, whether we call it social networking or a friend-of-a-friend, that concept is still alive and thriving. For most companies, employee referrals continue to be a valued resource of new workers. This is certainly the case at MITRE—referrals by existing employees provide a key source of new talent.

There are some companies which have little difficulty attracting interested job seekers. Many employers have to reach out to job seekers through a variety of avenues. This was true during the dotcom boom, when the demand for workers exceeded the available supply, and it is also true today.

Over the last decade, I conducted several surveys of Washington area employers to identify their most productive recruiting methods. In 2006, 94 percent of the companies responding to this survey reported that they used Internet-based job boards to locate new employees, and 88 percent said they also relied upon their corporate career sites to identify interested candidates. Not surprisingly, however, 100 percent of the respondents indicated that they relied to some extent upon employee referrals.

For the active job seeker, it is important to note that the other ways by which employers connect with new workers include job fairs, open house events, newspaper and radio advertising, college and alumni referrals, rehires, and networking through professional associations. For some, hiring through temporary staffing firms or contractors is a good way to "test drive" a potential new employee before making a longer-term commitment.

If you are, or soon become, a job seeker, the important reality I offer is this: Your chances of winning your dream job are far greater if you present yourself in person to or through a company employee than if you simply submit your resume electronically.

Be seen, become active in a number of networking groups, attend job fairs and open houses. Interact and develop relationships with people who will remember you when they have or hear about an opportunity matching your talents. Talk to people wherever you go and ask them for introductions to others in your field of interest.

And, please remember, although technological advancements may have given us world-wide reach, most of us still prefer to hire and work with the people we know.

—by Gary Cluff

Solutions That Make a Difference.®
Copyright © 1997-2013, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.

Privacy Policy | Contact Us