On-Line Job Search Platform companies seem to be on the screen every time you turn on your TV inviting you to find a job with their help. Is this really the new way to find a job? Has this approach changed the standard where 80% of all jobs are found through networking? Is networking now less important, or could it be more important?

The answer is no and recent studies have shown the value of networking in finding a new job has actually gone up, approaching 85%. To understand why, we need to look closer at the people looking for a job.

Recruitment International's research found that 70% of professionals in the labor market are passive job seekers. This mean that active job seekers represent only about 25% of the total amount of people looking for a job. The largest group of job seekers, outnumbering all others by about 4-1, are still employed and considered passive job seekers. They are not in a big hurry and are just looking for a better fit.

For this group networking is something they are good at, seeking job opportunities through contacts from professional networks, work associates and industry connections. 

It is a myth to think that on-line job search options are taking over the process, or even the best approach, to finding a job.

Only 25% of all job openings are advertised anywhere, and that means that On-Line Job platforms are not connecting to most of the opportunities and networking is critical. Employers sometimes assume these platforms can allow them to slim-down their own HR staffs, expecting recruiters to do their work, and neglect their own efforts to network looking for the best employees. The best potential employees are ones that a good HR department has to look for

On line platforms do search for the best candidate but instead search for as many as possible the fit the criteria they are given in hopes that the employer will find the best among them. Platform searches are missing access to the passive job seekers and are not likely to find the best candidates

At least when a job seeker uses a recruiter as a go between time can be invested in educating the recruiter on the candidates experiences and skills and that then can be extended into a deeper search. The only chance a active job seeker has of competing against the passive job seeker is to get in front of an HR department in a search mode before they go public with the search or to say it more clearly, by networking.

The networking that is most effective is done before the jobs are posted and are done learning more about the industry, the company or a specific job. Informational interviewing helps a candidate get the best jobs.