At this point in the job search grind, you should already know that no search is complete absent an effective strategy for tapping into the hidden job market. So the only real question is - what is your strategy? If you already have your hidden job market strategy in full swing - is it working? what challenges are you running into?

Chances are if you are like the many predecessors before you, then you're running into some of the typical scenarios with people relations. Even more so since is job related...meaning it involves your livelihood. The reality of building job contacts or working your existing business contacts is that it's really an art not a science. Basically, that means its going to take a lot of trial and error mixed with quite a bit of patience. Of course, that can be quite a challenge as you watch your cash reserves deplete while you play the "who can schmooze the best" game. If you don't have a lot of experience with schmoozing than you need to get up to speed quick, because that may wind up being the difference between feast or famine.

Schmoozing basically equates to a heightened level of courtship with your business contacts. It means you will be buying lunches, flowers, candy, baby booties, gift cards, expanding your sense of humor - basically whatever it takes to get in on the good side of your job contacts. With all that effort, you should, of course, be wise enough to know that you should be targeting power brokers. It would be a shame for all your efforts to end up nowhere, because you didn't target people in a position of power to help you. With that being said, things have changed quite a bit in terms of the power band, which to you means that you shouldn't overlook the people right there in front of you i.e. receptionists, personal assistant, courier and the like. Hey you would be surprised how valuable those resources are; after all they have personal knowledge of the likes, dislikes and behavioral norms of the contacts you're targeting.

So again, make sure to hand pick who you plan to target to help with your job situation. You know the old saying, "if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail," so outline your job networking strategy in detail versus just leaping into it. If you don't, the best you can hope for is to write off all your expenses, on your taxes, as job search related. Sure every dollar helps but what you need is a job not a measly tax deduction, that you have to wait a whole year to claim.

So the bottom line is that, to overcome your challenges with tapping into the hidden job market, you are going to have to fine tune your schmoozing or soft skills. The key there is trial and error with a heavy dose of patience. As long as you don't get mentally caught up in your current job situation and stay focused you will be fine. Remember nothing lasts for ever - good or bad. Make it happen.

Since the recession kicked into high gear, many job seekers still find themselves lost in the job networking shuffle without strong job leads on the horizon. So what's the problem? The contributing elements are two fold:

• Waiting until you're in trouble to start networking.
• Poor choice in selecting job networking contacts.

First off, you should know the golden rule, don't wait until you need help to go looking for it. Why? Quite simply - another golden rule "what can go wrong will go wrong." It's a little naive to think that your job situation is a priority to brand new business contacts. Now that doesn't go to say that you won't be one of the lucky ones to hit it off with a new business contact in a position of power to get your career back on track. It can happen and it does happen, but it isn't as frequent as you may think. As you know, people are prone to self interest, so the fact that you don't have a job has little to do with the "price of tea in China," as the saying goes. That of course means you are going to have to earn the right to call upon a networking colleague through solid relationship building - from scratch. Sorry, no one ever said tapping into the hidden job market was easy.

The other side of the coin is the job seeker that is a little more active in job networking activities and relationship building, but can't seem to convert any of that energy into a job referral or even a solid job lead. Why? Why else - your network of job contacts is weak, lacking either the right people in power positions or otherwise your network encompasses the wrong element. What is the wrong element? The wrong element is those who derive pleasure in other peoples hardships, since it brings them the courtship that they love.

Wake up - some people have serious ego issues and having a new found flock of job seekers feeds those ego issues. Thus, what incentive does that type of person have to help you with your job situation, knowing that you will be on your way and the courtship would end the moment they help you? Hopefully, i don't have to answer that question for you. Of course, that doesn't go to say that there is anything wrong with being humble and courting business contacts of good character. At the same time, if you are only one contributing to the relationship but can't pull from it, at some point, maybe that is a sign that you're "barking up the wrong tree."

So sure, there are only about 3 million jobs open for which about 15 million job seekers are competing, but that doesn't mean that you need to stay unemployed for extended periods of time. The key is to tap into the hidden job market via business contacts with power - the power brokers. If you keep the points mentioned here "top of mind," you can avoid getting lost in the networking shuffle with no job on the horizon. Get it - got it - Good.

If you have been in the job market for any period of time within the last 18 months you're probably well aware that few jobs seem to be available and more and more applicants are swarming to those jobs. This has likely sent the message that there aren't any jobs out there. Well, the answer is yes and no. It may be true that there aren't many published job listings but indeed there are quite a few job openings that are simply hush hush. You got it - the hidden job market.

Employers these days are calling upon current employees to help recruit for job openings long before those jobs reach internet job sites. This is sort of a mixed bag of nuts recruiting strategy in that employers save big on recruiting costs but doing so also limits the versatility of the organization. How so? Well current employees are less likely to recommend someone who isn't very much like themselves. Thus, a recruiting strategy of this type virtually guarantees that the organization is made up of - in the box staff. Those who think and do as current employees - "in the box-ers" come on board and those who do not, never even get considered. Perhaps this strategy works well for certain jobs such as in an assembly plant; but, the same strategy has dire consequences for those companies where innovation is important. In most cases a multi-dimensional team is almost always better than a single dimensional team.

As for the job sites, employers are finally coming around to the idea that bigger isn't always better. More and more job listings are finding their way to niche job sites and focused job sites. So, for the job seeker, it might be a good idea to expand your reach and remember bigger isn't always better.