Archive for the ‘Job Boards’ Category
Why Job Boards Still Matter
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
In today’s tight job market, a company may get more than 200 resumes for a single job listing. This is depressing news to the job seeker that has spent hours culling through all the listings, customized his cover letter and resume, and hopes the hiring manager will at least acknowledge receipt of his materials. Feeling that job boards are a colossal waste of time, many job seekers give up on this time-intensive tactic. But there’s an important reason not to!
If you read between the lines, you can sometimes discern hiring patterns that may signal a particular industry is hitting up (or shrinking!) If you believe a particular industry is growing, why not send unsolicited resumes to the top ten employers in that segment?
You may also be able to notice when one of your target companies is going through a growth spurt. For example, if Acme Paper Co. is hiring four new customer service agents, might they also need a new manager too?
When perusing job boards, want ads or other online listings, stay alert for subtle signals you can leverage to get a leg up on the competition. If you want more job search tips you can use, check out 28 Stealth Job Search Strategies in the MarketMyCareer.com store.
Posted in Job Boards, Job Search Strategies |
Keeping Your Job Search A Secret From Your Employer
Monday, October 24th, 2011
Many people are understandably concerned that their current company will find out they’re looking for a new position. Though nothing is 100% foolproof, here is the most effective thing you can do: make managing your career a part of your lifestyle.
This is good practice even if you’re happily employed. It keeps you top of mind for great opportunities you might not have considered. But keeping your current company in the dark is a side benefit. If you always keep your LinkedIn profile updated, they won’t suspect you’re looking for a new role. If you wear a suit to work once a week, you won’t be advertising “I have an interview!” when you finally do dress up.
Applying online is the one place where things can get tricky. If the name of a company is kept confidential, you could end up inadvertently sending your resume to your current employer (this HAS happened)! If there’s even a chance this could be the case, it’s best to avoid applying to the position.
People are also concerned that having an online brand – a blog, Twitter account, etc. – would lead their employers to suspect they’re in the market for a new job. While you can’t control what anyone else thinks, it’s unlikely this would raise a red flag if you position it correctly. Again, since you should always be managing your career, this won’t seem like a sudden move. But establishing yourself as a subject-matter expert could benefit your company as well. You’ll build a positive reputation and can make valuable connections that could be an asset to your company (for example, sales prospects or vendors).
All this being said, you still need to use common sense. Don’t divulge any proprietary company information; don’t bash your company, job, or employer; and make sure everything you put online is appropriate.
Tags: interviewing, job search, keeping job search secret, online identity, personal branding
Posted in Interviewing, Job Boards, Job Search Strategies, Personal Branding, Social Networking |
Cut Down On The Time You Spend Searching For Jobs Online
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
By now you may have heard that networking is the number one way to get a job. While that’s true, people still find positions through job boards, or else they wouldn’t exist! However, it’s easy to get sucked into searching for hours on end, or worse, get so overwhelmed you give up on looking altogether. Still, with the rule of thumb being to limit your use of traditional job boards to just one hour a day, what is the alternative?
They’re called aggregators, and two of the most well-known are Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com. These sites pull millions of job listings from all across the internet. Instead of needing to go from one site to another each day, you can find all those listings in one place. By entering keywords and location, you’ll get a list of job ads that fit your criteria. You can then get more specific and search by date posted, title, and years of experience, just to name a few. You can even search under date posted, “since last visit.” In addition, you can register for a free account and get set up to receive customized email alerts.
Employers still tend to check their own sites first, so you may just want to use these aggregators to gather leads. When you find a job you’re interested in, go directly to the company’s website and apply there.
Though aggregators are a huge help, using job boards is just one method of searching. On top of that, it’s still the least effective way to find a position. Make online searching a part of your strategy, but spend the bulk of your time on other activities.
Tags: Applying Online, Indeed.com, Job Search Strategies, SimplyHired.com
Posted in Job Boards, Job Search Strategies |
