Not every job that gets filled was ever publicly advertised, and this is often referred to as the “hidden job market.” Many organizations fill open roles through internal promotions, employee referrals, or direct outreach to people already known to a hiring manager or their network, sometimes posting the position publicly only after an internal or referred candidate has already been informally identified, or not posting it at all.
This doesn’t mean applying to publicly posted jobs is a waste of time — plenty of roles are genuinely filled through the standard application process, especially at larger organizations with formal hiring processes and compliance requirements around open recruitment. But relying only on posted listings means missing a meaningful share of opportunities that are filled another way entirely.
This is part of why networking is consistently recommended alongside a standard job search: a referral or a warm introduction to a hiring manager can put a candidate into consideration for a role before, or instead of, a public posting ever goes up, and referred candidates are generally viewed favorably since someone already inside the company is vouching for them.
The practical takeaway is to treat a job search as two parallel efforts — applying to postings you find, and actively building and using your professional network — rather than relying entirely on either one alone.