Myth: Get Interviews by
Networking, Search Firms, Ads

Study Shows:
Job Hunters Get Meetings More Efficiently Through Direct Contact

S earch Firms. Ads. Networking. Ask most people how to get interviews, and that’s what they’ll mention. But The Five O’Clock Club, the nationwide career-coaching network, wanted to find out what really works. Its survey of  professionals, managers and executives clearly shows that job hunters get more meetings for the time spent through “direct contact” than through any other single technique.

 “Articles abound to prove the importance of networking,” says Dr. Richard Bayer, Chief Operating Officer of The Five O’Clock Club. “And networking is important. However, our research shows that direct contact is a more efficient way to generate meetings.”

“Networking” means using someone else’s name to get a meeting. “Direct Contact” means aggressively pursuing people whom you may have known in the past or people you have never met. These might include association members, or people identified on the Internet, through newspaper or magazine articles, or from library research. (For entry-level people, direct contact even includes going from one Human Resources office to another in an office center.) Dr. Bayer outlined the results of the survey:

· Direct contact is the most time efficient way to get meetings. Surveyed job hunters spent 45% of their time networking, yet networking accounted for only 35% of their meetings. On the other hand, surveyed job hunters spent 24% of their time on direct contact, which resulted in 27% of their meetings. Says Bayer, “Networking is very time consuming. You have to find people who are willing to let you use their names. With direct contact, there is no middle man.”

· Even executives got almost 1/3 of their meetings through direct contact. “There’s a myth out there that executives rely on networking to get in to see people more senior than they are,” says Bayer. “Our surveyed senior executives did in fact get 62% of their meetings through networking, but almost 30% by contacting executives whom they had not been referred to. Executives should not over-look direct contact.”

· People making a career continuation relied on direct contact even more than networking. People looking to stay in the same industry or field got about 1/3 of their meetings through direct contact and a little less than that by using someone else’s name to get a meeting. The job searchers contacted strangers, and got meetings because of their accomplishments — and their discipline in working follow-up phone calls.

· Even career changers (42% of those surveyed) got 20% of their meetings through direct contact. Career changers often feel they should network to meet people in new fields or industries. However, direct contact can also result in meetings.

· In this market, search firms accounted for only 8% of meetings; Newspaper ads accounted for 7%; On-line job boards accounted for 13%. “Everyone makes the mistake of placing too much importance on published openings,” says Bayer. “Contact organizations that don’t publicize openings now, and stay in touch with them. This increases the chance they’ll hire you, rather than post the job, when they need help.” 

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The Five O’Clock Club is the only career program in which members meet with professional coaches and peers on a regular weekly basis in a friendly, club-type format.

Richard Bayer, Ph.D., is an economist, ethicist and author on labor economics, and also the Chief Operating Officer of The Five O’Clock Club. He is a frequent guest on local and national media including the TODAY SHOW, CNN and others. He and the Club have also been featured in The Economist, FORTUNE and other publications. Dr. Bayer is co-chair of The Employment Roundtable, a group of industry leaders and government personnel who converge each month to discuss trends in the workforce.

Research conducted by Anita Peng for The Five O’Clock Club with contributions by Jared Kreiner.