Archive for the ‘Job Hunting’ Category

Is the “hidden job market” a myth? Career experts have for years touted the notion that the vast majority of jobs – published statistics have suggested figures ranging from 75 to 95 percent of the total job market – are never advertised. This portion of the job market that is hidden from public view is behind the rationale career practitioners use to promote the effectiveness of networking in the job search. But, based on a prominent consultant’s assertion that the hidden job market is a myth, Quintessential Careers (http://www.quintcareers.com/), one of the Web's leading career tools sites, investigated the hidden job market concept and has published its findings in a package of three articles.

The consultant was Gerry Crispin, who in 2009 stated in a career-management discussion group that the hidden job market is one of the biggest myths of job-hunting; that, in fact, it doesn’t exist: “Maybe a few thousand out of 20 million jobs are unpublished, and they are primarily at or near the C-level,” said Gerry Crispin, who with partner Mark Mehler, operates CareerXroads®, which consults with corporations in career planning and placement, contract recruiting, executive search, recruitment advertising, and human-resource management.

With his permission, Quintessential Careers shared Crispin’s opinion with more than 70 experts in the career-management, employment, recruiting, and hiring sectors. The majority refuted Crispin’s opinion that the hidden job market is a myth, though few offered concrete evidence in favor of the hidden market. Some agreed with him. The experts, however, identified two problems with the hidden job market concept:

1. Definitions and interpretations of the “hidden job market” may not reflect reality. “Hidden” may not be the best term for this sector of available jobs since employers don’t deliberately hide vacancies.

2. Those who are skeptical about the hidden job market generally admit it exists but dispute commonly bandied-about figures – that the hidden job market comprises 75-95 percent of the job market — contending that the portion of the job market that is unadvertised is much smaller. The size of the hidden job market may also fluctuate based on the economy, some say.

In Quintessential Careers’ lead article on the hidden job market (http://www.quintcareers.com/hidden_job_market_myth.htm), Is the Hidden Job Market a Myth? A Quintessential Careers Investigative Report, experts agreed with Crispin’s assertion that employers generally don’t purposefully hide job vacancies from the public, but suggested that situations such as the following may result in unpublicized openings:

• The employer needs to confidentially replace a nonperformer.
• The employer at a public company fears news of significant hiring will hurt stock prices.
• The employer does not want to reveal future plans to competitors and others, and publicizing openings could expose those plans.
• The employer wants to get referrals before or instead of publicizing the vacancy and being inundated with resumes from unqualified candidates.
• The employer hires a search firm or recruiter to conduct a confidential search.
• The employer uses social media or other non-advertising means to find candidates.
• The employer may be very small and does not have the resources to advertise the opening.
• Human error; the employer simply fails to publicize the opening (e.g., lack or time, forgetfulness) or has a poorly designed Website, where job-seekers have difficulty finding vacancy listings.
• The opening exists, but there’s a hiring freeze, so the job cannot yet be publicized.
• The opening is still “in the pipeline;” it’s unofficial, so it cannot yet be publicized.

Techniques for penetrating unpublicized openings like the foregoing is the subject of the second feature in Quintessential Careers’ hidden job market package (http://www.quintcareers.com/unpublicized_job_market.html), How to Tap Into Jobs in the Unpublicized Employment Market.

Experts speculated on the size of the market and, in a sidebar feature in Quintessential Careers’ hidden job market package (http://www.quintcareers.com/unpublicized_job_market_experiences.html), shared plenty of anecdotes in which job-seekers obtained jobs that had not been advertised. The only definitive statistics on the size of the market come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in a regularly issued report called Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS. The Quintessential Careers’ hidden job market report explains that, while determining the size of the hidden job market from these statistics depends on how the stats are interpreted, what they include, and the state of the economy, they clearly suggest the existence of the hidden job market.

“Regardless of the size of the hidden/unpublicized job market,” said Quintessential Careers Associate Publisher Katharine Hansen. “The evidence is clear that networking is crucial to job-search success and remains the most effective way to land a new job. Job-seekers should consider tapping unpublicized jobs as just one tool in the job-search kit,” said Hansen, who wrote the three hidden job market features.

Source:  Quintessential Careers/EmpoweringSites.com

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has announced that Changan Automobile Co Limited, one of China’s leading car manufacturers, is establishing Changan UK Research and Development Centre in Nottingham, creating up to 200 new jobs over the next three years.

Changan Automobile Co is one of China’s largest car makers, and the new centre, which will be based at No. 1 Nottingham Science Park. Changan’s sales have been increasing by around 30% annually, and its production and sales between January and April in 2010 ranked second in China.

The company’s production capacity is 2.5 million units per year, and the establishment of the facility in Nottingham will enable Changan to collaborate with UK automotive R&D companies and will also help UK companies win business with Changan. emda, together with its East Midlands China Business Bureau, has been working intensively with Changan since March 2009, to look at the national and regional strengths in automotive R&D, particularly in powertrain, transmissions, chassis and new energy technologies.

emda successfully demonstrated the benefits of Changan establishing a R&D facility in the region, due to the availability of skills and expertise within businesses and regional universities. Changan Automobile owns 9 production bases and 21 whole vehicle factories in China, with its turnover in 2009 being approximately £6 billion. The business has ambitions to break into the global top ten motor manufacturers, and the establishment of the R&D centre in Nottingham is a vital part of this plan.

Mr XU Liuping, Chairman of the Board for Changan Automobile, said:

“Setting up our own R&D centres overseas, including in the UK, is a vital stepping stone for Changan Automobile to utilise global resources and to enter the league of the world-leading car makers.”

The investment in the East Midlands came about as a result of a visit by emda’s Chairman, Bryan Jackson, to Chongqing Municipality in China, in November 2007. While in China, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to develop collaborative international partnerships between Chongqing Municipality and the East Midlands. The aim of the MoU was to identify leading automotive companies in Chongqing to establish Research and Development centres in the East Midlands and to identify suitable business and research partners in the region.

In July 2009, Chongqing Automotive Industry Office led a delegation of Chongqing automotive companies interested in developing business collaborations to the East Midlands, a visit which was hosted by emda and the China Business Bureau. Chongqing Changan New Energy Automotive was a major and active participant of the visit. Once Changan announced its interest in establishing a UK R&D base, emda and the East Midlands China Business Bureau worked together with UK Trade and Investment, to ensure that the investment came into the region. Speaking about the investment, Bryan Jackson, Chairman of emda, said:

“This announcement is fantastic news for the East Midlands. Changan Automobile has chosen to locate here because of the research expertise of our universities, the reputation of the world class automotive engineering firms based in the region and the high quality workforce.

“Changan will be creating over 200 research jobs and opportunities for UK automotive companies to do business with Changan, further establishing the region’s reputation as a location for innovative, high technology companies. We are looking forward to working with them to ensure that they build a successful and prosperous business here in the East Midlands.”

The centre in Nottingham, which will be open before the end of the year, will focus on powetrain and transmission technologies as well as investigation into “new energy” electric and hybrid vehicles. They plan to establish a facility that initially employs 25-30 employees and within three years they plan to expand up to 200 employees by the end of 2013. Nottingham based Transmission technology business, Romax, is already working with Changan and will play a key role in helping to establish the new centre.

Nick Whittingham, British Consul General Chongqing, said:

“I am delighted that Changan has opted to set up their business in the UK. Chinese companies such as Changan offer a vast range of opportunities and benefits to the UK. The Changan project will not only bring investment and jobs to the UK but will also set an example to the growing number of high quality and high value Chinese companies to bring their businesses and investment to the UK."

Dr YU Chenglong, the Project Leader of Changan UK R&D Centre, said:

“After thorough research and consideration, we feel UK's advantages in automotive R&D, the range of its industrial capabilities which fit well into Changan's strategy and UK's openness to work with Changan strongly position UK to host Changan's R&D Centre. The East Midlands, in particular, with its central location, availability of strong automotive R&D companies and research institutions within and around this region, and its long-established links with Chongqing, makes it the ideal choice for Changan.

“In the last few months, emda and its dedicated China Business Bureau have been highly professional, efficient and flexible in working with Changan providing excellent service and support. Changan plans to break into the global top ten motor manufacturers in the coming years. Changan UK will be working closely with UK automotive companies to, emda and its dedicated China Business Bureau to achieve this ambition.”

Changan has already set up R&D engineering centres in Beijing, Harbin, Jiangxi, Shanghai and Chongqing as well as two design centres, one in Turin, Italy, which was opened in 2005 and another in Yokohama, Japan, in 2008. Changan invests heavily in R&D, which accounts for over 4.5% of annual sales for almost a decade. It plans to invest over RMB10 billion (approx. £1 billion) in R&D over the next 3 to 5 years.