In his book, "Using Competitive Intelligence to Advance Your Career?, career counselor Robert Pannone puts forth a new strategy for those looking for work. Pannone suggests that job hunters spend time in the library researching and creating profiles of target companies to learn about their problems and needs. Known as competitive intelligence, this technique encourages job seekers to anticipate opportunities instead of looking for job openings. Pannone feels that classic job hunting techniques like networking are less effective given the number of people out of work these days.
See "Use intelligence to target a job", David Gregorio, Chicago Tribune, September 16, 2003