The "Hidden Jobs"

By Kenny Gehlhaus, Campus Representative, Pennsylvania State University

Sometimes your dream job comes to you quite easily. Then again that does not happen very often and rather you must search constantly for it. Career networks and fairs at school are a perfect place to start your job search however they only cover the basics - in other words, everyone who is driven has those resources as well. These "mainstream jobs" are mainly made up of top companies that may have a particular relationship with the school and they may be concentrated more to the same industry. An article from the University of Wisconsin-eau Claire laid the groundwork for how students should go about finding careers not advertised by the school or in mainstream media.

The goals for finding these “hidden jobs” are to first find the companies that you think you might want to work for. Then by using this list of industries and companies, have the employer’s names present and search out contact information with the Human Resources department. When finding specific employers make sure to create a network, a listing of the “who’s who” at the company that you should be speaking to.

There are many ways to go about searching for “hidden jobs”. Being diligent and aggressive is certainly important though if you wish to get that dream job. By being out-going and proactive you can find the job and career path that you so desire.