“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
– Thomas Edison
We’ve all gotten that LinkedIn message: a recruiter or hiring manager telling us we’d be perfect for a role we weren’t looking for.
Many of us ignore it without a second thought. But what happens when we follow up instead?
I’m here to convince you to do exactly that, because opportunities don’t show up at your front door wearing a T-shirt that says, “This is your lucky chance!”
Opportunities often come when you least expect them, and almost never when you’re explicitly looking for them.
Proactive Recruiting in the Financial Industry
In financial recruiting, a large share of our candidates are professionals we actively seek out. They are candidates who were not looking for a job when we found them.
According to ZipRecruiter’s 2023 survey of recently hired workers, 36.2% of recent hires were recruited for their current job rather than applying for it themselves. That number has climbed since: 43% by late 2023, and 46% by 2024.
These numbers show just how common it’s become for candidates to land opportunities they weren’t looking for, and the financial industry is the clearest example of where this plays out. According to the same study, 65.8% of hires in the financial sector were proactively recruited.
These professionals, known as “passive candidates”, are conventionally assumed to be the least open to something new, as they are already content in their current role.
ZipRecruiter notes that, “Instead of having to search for jobs, more than 1 in 3 recently hired Americans surveyed said an employer came searching for them.” The candidates behind this number, many of whom went on to better roles, had one thing in common: they were open to the opportunity.
The data implies that financial recruiting is trending toward the passive candidate pool.
If you’re not open to new opportunities, you might be unknowingly committing yourself to a stagnant career. And if you work in finance, this is no longer hypothetical. You’re more likely than professionals in almost any other industry to get that call.
Case in point: opportunity is calling. Do you answer?
Truthfully, it’s not as simple as picking up the phone and seeing where it goes. Being open to opportunity is less a single decision and more of a mindset that can expand your realm of possibilities.
The Theory of Planned Happenstance
John Krumboltz, a professor of education and psychology at Stanford, along with colleagues Kathleen Mitchell and Al Levin, reshaped career counseling with the theory of planned happenstance. The idea is that unplanned, arbitrary events can shape people’s lives, including their career opportunities and paths.
The theory doesn’t just passively pan out and become evident in reflection of your life; it requires active and deliberate choices. Hence, the “planned” in “planned happenstance”.
The heart of Krumboltz’s theory suggests that professionals who benefit most from chance events intentionally build specific traits to recognize and act on them. The theory identifies five traits: curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism, and risk-taking.
1. Curiosity
Many passive candidates might wonder why they should even bother hearing about a new opportunity when they are comfortable in their current role. I’d pose a simple counter question: why not? Embracing curiosity and staying open to what’s out there exponentially increases your odds of finding something you didn’t even know you were looking for.
Here’s a simple example. Two professionals are happy in their current roles. One stays open to hearing about new opportunities while the other keeps the door closed. Which one do you think picked up the phone, heard about a role with real growth potential, and walked away with a pay raise?
It starts with curiosity.
2. Persistence
This trait matters most for people who are actively job hunting and starting to feel stagnant or discouraged. Staying persistent and trusting that the right opportunity is still ahead is what keeps you in a position to receive it when it comes.
It’s tempting to be picky about which roles you’ll consider. But sometimes, the role you’re waiting for is one you never thought of looking for.
3. Flexibility
No career, no matter how stable it seems, is guaranteed. Being open to opportunity means accepting that careers rarely move in a straight line. Staying flexible is what lets you take a detour when a new path leads somewhere better than your original plan.
4. Optimism
Living this theory means believing that something bigger is available to you, which is not to say you are unhappy where you are or believe that the grass is always greener. This is about trusting that growth lies ahead.
Staying optimistic can also look like maintaining relationships when you’re comfortable in a role. The same ZipRecruiter survey found a generational uptick in ghosting within recruiting, citing more than 1 in 5 recent hires admitting to going silent on a potential employer or recruiter.
The report makes an acute point: you never know when a hiring manager or recruiter might become useful to you again. Going silent or failing to remain optimistic about your own career potential will unnecessarily shut the door on that connection and any potential opportunities that may have come with it.
5. Risk-Taking
Adding more to your plate, even something as small as an intro call with a recruiter when you’re not remotely looking, can feel unnecessary. The idea of a career change, even a hypothetical one, can feel overwhelming. But acting despite uncertainty is exactly what makes this theory work.
High trajectory careers are not built by playing it safe and waiting for opportunity to show up at your door. We’re long past the era where staying in your first roles was a guaranteed path to growth and promotion.
The candidates we place in bigger roles didn’t get there by standing still. They took the calls, made the risky moves, and let a few hypothetical conversations turn into real opportunities.
Answer The Call
Embodying curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism, and taking risks will not guarantee an opportunity will find you, but it will exponentially increase your chances and place you in the optimal position to recognize when a great opportunity comes knocking.
The job market, and careers generally, will only continue to grow in unpredictability. There is no true upside to staying closed off, and the extra effort of staying open pays off often.
Next time that LinkedIn message shows up or your phone starts ringing, remember what opportunity actually looks like: a five-minute call you almost didn’t take.
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