A comprehensive guide about the hidden jobs market in Australia

Many international students are unaware about the hidden jobs in Australia.

When we asked our audience on our Instagram page, the results weren’t surprising for us as you can majority of them never heard about this term at all.

So in this article, we are going to give a comprehensive guide on hidden jobs in Australia, where to find them and some key tips to take away when applying for these jobs.

What is a hidden job market?

While most of the people will turn to online portals like seek, indeed, adzuna in hope of a job in Australia, there are many jobs that are not advertised on these portals or anywhere at all.

It is believed that around 70% of the jobs that are not advertised anywhere in Australia.

So, the jobs that are not available online or in print media or in other published source is know as hidden jobs.

How it works?

If you work in company and they need to fill a job opening, they might ask you (internal staff) first if they can refer someone to the job opening.

Once refered, this person will go through resume check, reference check and interview process as normally.

And if they are hired, then they filled up a position without business ever needing to advertise this job anywhere.

Benefit of these hidden jobs

So what are the benefits of not advertising these jobs and keeping them hidden

For businesses:

Saves time and efforts – The whole recruitment process including advertising, selecting and interviewing takes heaps of time and efforts for a business. Without needing to go through this whole process with many candidates saves ton of time and efforts
Money – And time means money in business. So business end up saving money as well. There is a cost pout ads on the platforms and cost of recruiters etc. that can be saved by the business when hiring people through these methods.
Reliable candidate – Most of the time business will end up getting a reliable candidate as the existing staff will refer the right candidates. You wouldn’t want to refer wring people for the job ( you know that you might be risking your on jobs doing that).

For staff:

Referral bonus – Some businesses do have referral bonuses for the staff who refer right candidates. So, they can score some cash while refering their friends and family.
Working with friends – Also, the staff can get to work with their friends and family members which can be fun.

For candidates:

Less hassle – People who get the jobs via hidden channels usually have to worry less than traditional job applications as the employers already have some info about them through existing staff.
More chances to get a job – There is a very good chance that you will end up getting a job if you are refered by someone who are already working there.

How to find these hidden jobs

There are different approaches or ways you can take to find these hidden jobs. Here are our top picks:

Networking – You might have heard about this word somewhere else also.

Networking is all about building relationships, interacting with others, exchanging information. It can be done in face to face meetings or in virtual environment (online) as well.

As most of these hidden jobs are referrals by existing staff of the business, so it is vital for you to know these staff members in order to score these jobs. The way you get know these people are through your network.

So the question is where can I meet these people and network?

Here are some common places where you can network with others

Industry associations events
Student associations events
Local councils events
University Alumni networks
Facebook groups

Cold calling or messaging – You should try to send an email or messages to the key recruiting team members of the businesses you are interested to work for. This could be regarding a coffee catch up or reaching out to sew if there are possible opportunities for job openings in the business.
Social media – LinkedIn is the most important social network when it comes to professional networking. You should connect with people in your industry on the platform. Here is a quick tip, when sending a connection request on LinkedIn, send a personalised message asking for a possible coffee catch up. (See example below)
Volunteering – You can do some good deed by helping others in need when doing volunteering, but it will be even better for your career. You can build your network and work experience as well while volunteering.
Sign up for company newsletters – If you want to work for a company and we suggest you to sign up for their newsletter. Some of these businesses actually send the job openings in these newsletters. You will also get to know the other updates in these businesses as well.

*How to send a personalised message when sending a connection request on LinkedIn*

Tips on finding these hidden jobs

Here are some tips you can takeaway from this article:

Network effectively – Start learning on how to network effectively with others. You should be trying to build your network in Australia. Going out, meeting new people and building new relationships can help you score these jobs.
Work on LinkedIn Profile – LinkedIn Profile is a must if you are serious about getting jobs in Australia. You need to polish it up making sure you cover all the details are up to date and have the right profile picture.
Research effectively on companies you want to work for – Go to the company’s website, research about them on their social media and ASX if the company is listed there. You need to get as much information about the company and its people working there. Luckily, most of this research these days can be done from the comfort of your couch.
Work on your communication – While still looking for jobs, the key thing you want to do is work on your communication. It will also help you to build your confidence as well. You can do this by taking some short courses on websites like Udemy and some of them are available for Free on YouTube as well.
Be presentable – You can work on yourself to be more presentable with your clothes and body language. We know your physical appearance will not be part of any recruitment process, but it is good idea to come across more professional in your approach. And as the saying goes, the first impression is the last impression.

If you are unsure about what type of emails you should be sending for networking and interview follow ups, we have got the templates for that. Click here to get those templates.