Personal Networking Is Key In Finding a Job or Job Candidate, Says New Poll

What's the most popular way to find jobs - or employees? According to 2001 survey conducted jointly by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Careerjournal.com, the answer is networking.

The poll, conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com, the executive career site from The Wall Street Journal, found that the same search strategies are used to great extent by HR professionals and job seekers alike.

According to the poll, 95 percent of each group use personal contacts and networking to find job candidates or a job. Both groups considered this to be the most effective tactic. Other strategies used extensively by both groups were:

• Internet job postings
• Print newspaper ads
• Employee referrals

Forty-eight percent of job seekers reported using places of worship as a search tactic, with a 22 percent effectiveness rate, but only 24 percent of HR professionals report doing the same, with just a 6 percent rate of effectiveness.

Job seekers apparently go to greater lengths to find jobs than HR professionals seem to use to find job candidates. Throughout the poll, each of the tactics received higher usage rates by job seekers than by those doing the hiring. For example, 36 percent of HR professionals and 69 percent of job seekers used open houses; job hotlines were used by 30 percent of HR professionals and 67 percent of those looking for jobs.

The poll included responses from 566 HR professionals and 439 job seekers.

To view the full report, visit www.shrm.org/surveys or www.CareerJournal.com.