There’s a secret about finding a job in Canada: 80% of available jobs are hidden, that is not advertised.

The vast majority of jobs are never advertised. Unless you know where to look, you will never even see most of the jobs that are available.

All those online job boards, all those newspaper ads and all those help-wanted signs are only showing you a tiny fraction of the jobs, which are available. If you limit yourself to watching for jobs that are advertised you will be greatly limiting your options. You need access to the hidden job market.

So, how do you access the hidden job market? What’s the secret password that will let you in? The answer is Networking.

A network is whom you know. Chances are you already have a network, you just don’t know it. Your network is your family, it is people that you know through previous jobs, people you went to school with or know from professional associations. Your network is your friends, your friend’s friends, and their friends. You are connected to all of these people by who you know. They are the secret to accessing the hidden job market.