What You Need to Know About the Hidden Job Market

Here’s a statistic that surprises most job seekers: 50% to 70% of all jobs are filled before they’re ever advertised.

Yes — more than half of all opportunities never make it to Seek, LinkedIn, or government job boards. This invisible pool of unlisted vacancies is called the hidden job market. It’s where roles are filled quickly through referrals, internal networks, and quiet outreach long before a public job ad even goes live.

If you want access to better roles, faster interviews, and stronger opportunities, you need to know how to tap into this hidden market. Here’s how it works and how you can position yourself to be found.

What Is the Hidden Job Market?

The hidden job market refers to all the roles filled through:

• Referrals and recommendations
• Internal networks and professional connections
• LinkedIn headhunting and recruiter searches
• Recruiters reaching out to pre-identified candidates

Managers and recruiters prefer referrals because they come with built-in trust. A candidate recommended by a colleague is usually faster, easier, and lower-risk compared to sorting through hundreds of applications from strangers.

LinkedIn, Networking, and Word-of-Mouth: Your Keys to the Hidden Market

The strongest access point to the hidden job market is your professional network — and LinkedIn amplifies that network more than any other tool.

Step 1: Make Sure Your LinkedIn Profile Is Optimised

Before you start connecting with people, ensure your profile is keyword-optimised and up to date. Otherwise, you’ll blend into the noise or worse — be overlooked entirely.

Pro Tip: Your headline, photo, job titles, and skills make the biggest impact in recruiter searches.

Step 2: Find the Right People

Use LinkedIn’s advanced filters to discover:

• People in your industry
• Hiring managers at target organisations
• Professionals with similar career paths
• Recruiters who specialise in your field
• Industry associations and community groups

This is your chance to build a meaningful and relevant career community.

Step 3: Connect the Right Way

When sending connection requests, keep them:

• Short
• Personalised
• Authentic

Mention something you genuinely have in common — same industry, shared contacts, similar career interests — and avoid long, generic copy-and-paste messages.

Managers can spot a mass-sent message in seconds. Keep it human.

Step 4: Nurture Your Network

Once connected, don’t immediately ask for a job. Build a rapport first.

You can nurture relationships by:

• Commenting on their posts
• Thanking them for insights they’ve shared
• Asking thoughtful questions
• Sharing helpful content

The goal is long-term connection, not instant favour-seeking.

Being Headhunted: The Passive Approach That Changes Careers

Headhunting is when recruiters come to you. It’s passive, powerful, and often how the best roles are filled.

Here’s how it works behind the scenes:

1. Hiring managers ask their teams for recommendations.
2. If that fails, they search their networks, LinkedIn, and ATS databases.
3. Recruiters filter candidates by keywords, job titles, and profile accuracy.
4. If your profile matches what they need, they reach out.

To be headhunted, you must ensure that your:

• LinkedIn headline is keyword-rich
• Experience section uses accurate job titles
• Skills match your target roles
• CV is up to date and matches your LinkedIn
• Uploaded CVs on recruitment databases are current

Recruiters prioritise fresh, relevant CVs — not outdated versions buried in old databases.

Success in the Hidden Job Market Requires Strategy

Both recruiters and candidates now use digital tools, data, and networking to find opportunities faster. To succeed, you need to:

• Build a strong and relevant network
• Be findable through LinkedIn searches
• Optimise your CV and LinkedIn profile for keywords
• Make a clear career plan
• Use the right networking etiquette

With the right approach, you’ll uncover opportunities long before they reach the job boards — and you’ll be top of the list when hiring managers start asking, “Who do you know?”

Want to Break Into the Hidden Job Market?

If you want to be found for high-quality roles, your CV and LinkedIn must showcase your value quickly and clearly.

Get a free CV review today from CV Writers Australia and uncover what’s holding your applications back.