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Searching for Jobs Online?
Embedded Geek asks: "My wife, a VB/C/C++/SQL coder, was recently laid off from our mutual employer and is on the job hunt. I am also sending around feelers. We've posted both our resumes at our own site (here and here) and at Monster.Com. So far, we have gotten disappotinting results - several headhunters generating a lot of smoke but no heat. Some people have suggested dice.com and other techie oriented sites, but I wonder if we're going about this the wrong way. Are we better off using the Internet to directly find and reach companies (I really dislike headhunters)? Should we find a site affiliated with a major newspaper's want ads? Has anyone out there found other strategies to using the Internet in a job search?"
This related submission from kalanar asks a similar question, but questions whether exclusive online searches are the answer: "With the current economy state, and the increase in unemployment in the US, I'm curious if anyone has had luck with onlinejobsearchengines. I have applied to many job listing (80+) and have not received much of a reply. I'm curious if employers are worried about the relocation factor or if employers are more anxious to hire people that have applied in other ways. (Fax/Inperson)"
So if you are recently employed, especially in the US, what strategies did you use to land your current job?
Otherwise, I'm on a similar track: I was laid off two weeks or so ago, and am temping now for a very interesting company & am hoping it'll become a permanent position. I submitted dozens & dozens of online applications, but the job I'm at was discovered by a *good* headhunter (Randstad -- nice folks, I like working with them because they actually seem to want to place you in a job where you & the employrer will be happy, rather than just filling seats so they can pocket the commission). I had an offer for freelance work & that was found by word of mouth. None of the online applications I tried amounted to anything, and yes I've been following up with emails & phone calls. I've had a handful of "no thanks" responses, but mostly I just get silence.
Keep in mind also that if trying all avenues doesn't work out, now would be a great time to go back to school, consider a career change or reapplication of old IT skills to new non-IT jobs, or, if you're into that sort of thing, enlist in the military. It would of course be risky, but it would also be patriotic (in a *good* way, not a jingoistic one) and it would be a sure paycheck.
Just try to keep all of your options in mind & try everything that seems like it'll help...
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
It's gruesome right now - if you're in the wrong city you should be prepared for a *long* search because it's REVENGE OF THE INCOMPETENT HR MANAGER time. Don't have 10 years of Java experience? Then don't bother sending your resume... or pointing out that the language is less than 10 years old so anyone who claims this much experience is lying. Don't have 5+ years experience in both COBOL and the lastest EJB/J2EE technologies, then don't bother responding because the company insists on merging two (or more!) positions while cutting the salary by a third.
That said, networking is usually best but it's worthless when everyone you know is unemployed in a mass corporate panic. You probably aren't looking for the same jobs, of course, but the usual information net is severely pruned since there's no water cooler gossip, etc.
Second best is online sites, but you have to be very careful about sleazy body shops that will float your resume to everyone on the planet. They will *not* help you, and in fact will harm you since many companies will refuse to hire anyone with resumes from multiple sources to avoid any threat of confusion over "finder's fees" and the like.
What I've found practical are only replying to 1) recruiters and companies I've worked with in the past, 2) or recruiters who give local addresses and meaningful contact information, and 3) ads that have provide some details. I never put my resume up on a web site (and not just because it's a phone book after almost 20 years), and I never send it to someone who uses a generic drop box email address.
I've passed on some great ads... but I really can't take a one-line ad from a recruiter a thousand miles away from the job seriously. Yes, this can legitimately happen, but in those cases the recruiter has always willing to explain the circumstances in response to quick note. It's the ones who quietly ignore me and my hard-learned concerns that make me worry.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
Also:
this means it's more likely your resume will actually be *looked at*
it saves them the time to read through the resume
same as above.
not all the people who filter job applications are good with computers, no matter what the industry.
I am fluent in the Phonetic Alphabet, and put it on my resume. I had a lot of companies and recruiters call me to ask what it was.
I received one from a company I had emailed my resume to. they offered me a job after I sent them an email detailing what virus they were infected with and how to remove it and prevent it in the future. I didn't accept their job offer, but I think they'll remember me if I contact them in the future.