The advertised job market

We have looked at the hidden job market before (here). I have realised that the term the 'hidden' job market troubles me. I don't think it is hidden at all: I think these are positions which are filled because the candidate is already known. What I mean by that is that there are jobs which simply don't get advertised: instead they are filled because an employer or recruiter already has a candidate in mind; an employee finds their own replacement; someone internal is appointed; or someone is specifically headhunted.

In chatting with Edin Zubovic on LinkedIn - who did his Master's on this topic (Zubovic, 2018) and is now a recruiter himself - Edin advised that how jobs are found often "depends on the availability of the person's [i.e. the recruiter's] network" (Zubovic, personal communication, 25 March 2025). In his research and recruitment experience, recruiters "will first look within the[ir] network and then" go public if they can find no one suitable. That is when the job gets advertised.

I suspect that what is really meant when we talk about "the hidden job market" is not roles which are hidden, but those which are unadvertised. Which leads to another question: what percentage of unadvertised roles are there? Edin advises that he only has "a rough estimate" where "if I were to throw a number at a dinner table I would say 1 out of 3 never sees the public eye, and sometimes more" (Zubovic, personal communication, 25 March 2025).

Which I think means that about 30 to 40% of jobs form the unadvertised job market. Which in turn means that 60 to 70% of roles ARE advertised. So the next time someone tells you that 95% of jobs are not advertised, point them to the person who did their Masters research looking at just that, and that they say:

60% to 70% percent of jobs ARE advertised

Another researcher, often cited as having explored this area, is Mark Granovetter (1973). His PhD and a later article considered what he called 'weak networks', consisting of acquaintances, former work colleagues and so forth (Granovetter, 1973); not a 'hidden job market'. In a follow-up book chapter, Granovetter (1983) considered the research done in the field since his initial 1973 study. He explored the strength of the connections that people have, and was most interested as to whether the ties were strong or weak. For example, he found that "professional, technical, and managerial workers were more likely to hear about new jobs through weak ties (27.8 percent) than through strong ones (16.7 percent), with a majority in between (55.6 percent)" (Granovetter, 1983, p. 205).

He also noted that research using "a large sample of men and women in a branch of the Quebec provincial government [found that] 42.7 percent of the 2,553 individuals in the sample found their jobs through personal contacts" (Granovetter, 1983, p. 205, citing Langlois, 1977, p. 217). This is close to what Zubovic thinks is the scope of the unadvertised job market (2018, 2025).

And Edin suspects that we use the term 'hidden' job market as it "sounds more sexy" 😉 (Zubovic, personal communication, 25 March 2025).

Doesn't that sum us up!

Sam

References:

Granovetter, M. S. (1983). Chapter 7 The Strength of Weak Ties: A network theory revisited. In R. Collins (Ed.), Sociological Theory (pp. 201-234). Jossey-Bass.

Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380. https://doi.org/10.1086/225469

Zubovic, E. (2018). The Role of Social Capital in the Search for a Job: A qualitative study investigating “the hidden job market” on Sørlandet. [Master's thesis, University of Agder]. https://uia.brage.unit.no/uia-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2562203/Zubovic%2C%20Edin.pdf?sequence=1