How to find jobs that are never advertised
Not every vacancy is created on a portal. Some opportunities begin as an internal problem: overloaded team, expansion to another country, new client, future replacement, project that needs an owner or budget that has not yet been transformed into an advertisement.
Finding unannounced vacancies is not “skipping the queue”. It’s about getting to the conversation sooner, with context and relevance.
Starts with companies, not vacancies
Create a list of 30 companies where your profile makes sense.
Criteria:
- country or city;
- sector;
- working language;
- dimension;
- product or service;
- customers served;
- type of team;
- compatibility with visa/contract;
- international hiring history.
Then set priority:
| Priority | Criterion |
|---|---|
| High | company hires similar profiles, in a viable country, with aligned sector |
| Average | good sector, but little sign of hiring |
| Low | general interest but strong barriers |
Look for signs of future hiring
Useful signs:
- several open vacancies in nearby areas;
- expansion to a new country;
- investment announcement;
- product launch;
- recent hiring of managers;
- increase of team on LinkedIn;
- posts from employees about growth;
- new partnerships or large customers;
- many support, sales or operations vacancies;
- job posts republished frequently.
The question is: what problem might this company need to solve in the next 3-6 months?
Example: a company opens sales and customer support vacancies in Spain. Even without a customer success position, you can be preparing for customer growth. If you have experience in onboarding and retention, there is reason to talk.
Approach people with specific questions
Weak message:
Hello, can you recommend me for a vacancy?
Better message:
Hello, Rita. I saw you work in operations at X in Barcelona. I have experience in improving processes for customer support teams and I am mapping companies that work with European markets. Can I ask you two questions about which profiles usually fit there?
If the person responds, don’t monologue. Question:
- which skills matter most;
- what languages are needed;
- which teams are growing;
- how the company usually hires;
- what type of experience is valued;
- if there is something you should study before applying.
Then thank him and don’t force the recommendation. A good indication comes after minimal confidence.
Spontaneous application requires a reason
Generic message:
Send my CV for future opportunities.
Better message:
I saw that they opened operations in Lisbon and are hiring for customer support and onboarding. I worked for 3 years implementing B2B clients in a multilingual environment and helped reduce activation time by 22%. Even without an open position in Customer Success, I’ll let you know if you’re strengthening this area.
Structure:
- Observation about the company.
- Probable problem.
- Relevant experience.
- Result or proof.
- Simple ordering.
This transforms a spontaneous application into a contextual proposal.
Where to find less visible opportunities
| Channel | How to use |
|---|---|
| accompany companies, managers and recruiters | |
| Career Page | see vacancy patterns before they appear on aggregators |
| EURES | search for vacancies and official European mobility |
| Events and webinars | talk to teams before the formal process |
| Area Communities | discover companies that hire through referrals |
| Alumni and former colleagues | ask for context, not vague |
| Local portals | find companies that don’t publish internationally |
To choose platforms by country, see The main job platforms by European country.
How to follow up without seeming pushy
Register:
- name of the person;
- company;
- date of contact;
- context;
- response;
- next legitimate reason to resume.
Good reason to resume:
- vacancy lined up;
- the company announced expansion;
- you have new relevant evidence;
- the person asked you to come back later;
- there is a specific event or news.
Bad reason:
- “just passing by to remember”;
- weekly message;
- response charge;
- unrelated nomination request.
14-day plan
Day 1: list 30 companies.
Day 2: marks high priority/mmedia/baixa.
Day 3: find 2 people per priority company.
Day 4: Write 3 different messages per context.
Day 5-7: send 10 approaches with a concrete question.
Day 8: review responses and adjust message.
Day 9-11: send spontaneous applications to companies with a strong signal.
Day 12: update spreadsheet.
Day 13: adapt CV to the standards found.
Day 14: decide which companies are included in the monthly monitoring.
Common mistakes
- Ask for a job before building context.
- Sending a spontaneous CV for no reason.
- Approach random people outside the area.
- Insist weekly.
- Do not research the company.
- Confusing networking with asking for a favor.
- Do not follow responses.
- Forgetting to adapt your resume when a vacancy arises.
To improve messages and profile, use How to use LinkedIn to find jobs in the European market.
Useful sources
- EURES, European professional mobility portal.
- European Labor Authority: EURES, to understand the mobility network and services.
- Europass, to organize CV, letter and profile.
The hidden market is not invisible. He leaves signs before the announcement. The work is to learn to read these signals and come up with a conversation that makes sense.