This summary from CPI certainly reflect our local experience – there is no substitute for a strong network to support your job search.

Press release from our global partner: by Michaela Bartos, Career Partners International

Career Partners International (CPI), one of the largest career management consultancies in the world, shares the latest research and current statistics surrounding how people actually find jobs.

Most outplacement companies tout their ability to provide job postings that match an individual’s credentials to essentially do the work of finding the next job for the candidate. This digital matchmaking entices the job seeker to constantly check their email and wait while a low paid outsourced group in another country locates their ideal job and sends it to them. This approach appeals to the sponsoring company and to the outplaced individual because it sounds so easy and direct.  But does this actually work? Rarely.

Why not? Because that is not how the majority of people locate their next career opportunity. The recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study indicates that 70% of jobs are found through networking with people you know and get to know. Career Partners International reports that over 70% of its outplacement participants find their next job through networking and 94% of those people maintained or increased their prior compensation levels and landed new jobs in half the average time of others.

Not too many people warm to the idea of asking people for information until they start to see the results for themselves. However, effective networking requires extensive training to ensure that it yields job opportunities. Career Partners International knows what it takes for a job seeker to successfully build a productive network and spends unlimited coaching time working with individuals to hone these skills.

“Bad networking techniques can quickly ruin a job search campaign,” says Doug Matthews, President & CEO of Career Partners International, “Our goal is for people to generate two or three job offers and employing effective job search networking skills accomplishes this goal more times than not.”