[Rez_Yup]

Hi folks, I am curious about how most screen printing, apparel & promotional wear companies go about filling their open in-house artist positions. Before the economy went bad I remember seeing job postings for these positions and similar ones somewhat regularly on the net. Now I rarely if ever see openings for these positions online anymore. This is understandable with the current job market and all, but I am pretty sure there is still some movement going on out there.


Recently I had a conversation with a artist friend of mine (who happens to have worked for several promo-apparel companies) about this. He said in his experience companies usually find their staff artist via word of mouth, college campuses, some job boards and sometimes even steal them from other companies. What I got from this is that most in-house artist positions are not generally advertised, especially in today's times. On top of all of this I have read some articles about how employers in general don't advertise a lot of their openings and that they find most of their candidates through referrals. This is referred to as the “Hidden Job Market”.


So my question is how would one tap into this “Hidden Job Market” when it comes to the apparel industry? Also, is there any advice for getting the scoop on un-posted job openings after moving to a new city? I might relocate soon to a part of the country where I do not have any contacts in the industry, and I know I can't rely on job boards and classifieds for most opportunities.


Thanks

 

[kimura-mma]

Send your resume to head hunters and placement agencies.

You can also send your resume to the human resources or creative/marketing departments of the companies you would like to be hired by. Even if there are no current openings, they have your resume on file.

And check out the websites of the companies you would like to be hired by. Most of them have a 'careers' section and you can search job postings. While the company may not publicly advertise the opening, you will likely see it posted on their job board. It's a common company policy to post all openings. While this policy is designed to allow existing employees to be aware of potential career growth within the company, it also allows outsiders to learn of the openings as well.

 

[Rez_Yup]

Nice

I forgot about the employment agencies and staffing firms. Sounds like some very good advice, I will give it a shot.

Thanks Tim

 

[MiNGLED]

When I used to work for an agency, the first thing they would do when looking for new creative staff was to ask around for recommendations. Only after this failed did they start to approach recruitment agencies, the simple reason being cost. The recruitment would often take 20-30% of whatever the first years salary was which could cost the employer many thousands of pounds on top of paying the new staff member, hence their reluctance to do so.

 

[Rez_Yup]

Thanks for the insite on agencies Gavin, I will keep this in mind as well.