Securing the Right Job or Career Transition in the New Economy - part II

by D. Lawton Published On 8/29/2010 |

Category: Job Seeker Tools

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Part II - Traditional Job Search Methods

Part II of a 4 part discussion on the job market

Traditional means used to discover and obtain new employment opportunities:

Personal networking
Re-training and/or upgrading skills.
Relocation to a region, state, or country with a growing economy; or in need of a particular skilled labor force.
Search online job boards
Post resumes on career web sites
Search corporate web sites for job listings
Review local newspapers or classifieds
Contact Headhunters and placement agencies
Attend on-site career fairs
Participate in online newsgroups and chat forums
Contact the desired employer directly.

A hard look at common job search methods will expose many of the reasons why job seekers are not getting the results they desire.

Fact # 1: 10% or less of all hires are filled through job boards, classified advertisements, corporate sites, or job fairs

Countless studies point to the fact that the majority of jobs are unpublished. These unpublished jobs get filled internally or through an employee or business referral.

Fact # 2 - Job Boards cater to as much as 35 million resumes of your competition.

As many as 1200 resumes compete for each advertised position applied. Competition for any real job is daunting!

Fact # 3: Distributing blind resumes gets you nowhere.

Mailing resumes to a HR contact or adding your resume to a corporate job board may get you on their resume database. However, not much else will happen unless there is an exact match and job opening for your skills. Today, fewer corporations are attending job fairs with genuine employment opportunities.

Fact # 4: Personal Networks need beefing-up.

Most job seekers don’t have large personal networks that can get them in front of key decision-makers within a firm that is hiring.

Fact # 5: Executive Recruiters are on a very short leash.

Most Executive Recruiters fill fee-based jobs for business clients that have highly specific requirements.

Fact # 6: Using online classifieds is like throwing a message in a bottle into the Atlantic.

Using only online classifieds and large hiring portals will; rarely, if ever, provide you with a substantive means to expose your credentials to hiring managers and or decision-makers in sufficient quantity to generate interviews that lead to offers!

Each approach should be considered in structured time slots. But is there a more productive use of your time? Is there a method behind this madness?