If you're in the job hunt now, I would bet that your #1
source of activity is searching for jobs online. In fact,
many of the people I talk with are limiting their job
search entirely to reviewing and responding to Internet job
postings.
While you'll miss out on many top jobs if you spend 100% of
your efforts online, there ARE great positions out there
for the browsing! In addition, it's a quick way to research
your ideal position, plus get solid keywords for your
resume.
Use these strategies to find better-than-average
opportunities—and increase your search ROI:
1) Tap into professional organizations in your industry.
For example, a Google Search for "IT industry Association"
yielded not only siaa.net (Software & Information Industry
Association) and tiaonline.org (Telecommunications Industry
Association), but
http://www.google.com/Top/Business/Information_Technology/As
sociations/, (Google's MASTER list of IT associations).
What can you do with such a list? For starters, many of
these organizations will allow free searches on their jobs
database. Some also publish trade magazines that contain
advertisements for open positions. In addition, you can
often find local chapters that might be running a
networking event or meeting.
BONUS: should you decide to join, professional affiliations
are a GREAT place to find like-minded individuals who are
hiring in your field—plus, the membership can be a
boost to your resume.
2) Consider some of the fee-based services for job
searching. Many high-powered jobs and confidential listings
are shown exclusively on executive sites such as Execunet
(Execunet.com), NetShare (Netshare.com), and ExecutivesOnly
(executivesonly.com).
While some of what these sites may offer more than you
need, registering with one or two can help broaden your
search efforts and give you a representative cross-section
of what employers seek. Some organizations, such as
Execunet, promote face-to-face networking opportunities
through local chapters.
In addition, registering on BlueSteps (bluesteps.com) is
often required by recruiters who want to review your resume.
3) Locate composite job engines for your chosen field.
Narrowing your search to niche job boards can produce a
higher rate of return than using the "mass marketing"
boards such as CareerBuilder or Monster, since the jobs are
often of better quality and not as well-visited.
Some niche boards contain MORE listings, since their fee
structure is more attractive to employers. Finding these
sites sometimes means paging through search engine results
for your industry plus the word "jobs."
The following is a sampling of focused job posting,
association, and recruitment sites, listed by industry:
IT - Just Tech Jobs (justtechjobs.com), Developers.Net
(developers.net)
Nonprofit - ASAE CareerHeadquarters (careerhq.org), The
NonProfit Times (nptimes.com)
Sales & Marketing - Sales Heads (salesheads.com)
Logistics - JobsInLogistics.com (jobsinlogistics.com)
Engineering - Society of Women Engineers (swe.org),
ContractJobHunter (cjhunter.com)
International - PlanetRecruit.com (planetrecruit.com), Job
Shark (jobshark.ca)
Construction - Construction Executive
(constructionexecutive.com)
Biotechnology - HireBio (hirebio.com)
To sum up, finding a reliable and quality source of
leads—whether from online or offline
resources—can take a bit more ingenuity and time, but
will pay off by producing better results for your career
search.
----------------------------------------------------
Resume expert Laura Smith-Proulx of An Expert Resume
(http://www.anexpertresume.com ) authored "Solve Your
Toughest Resume Challenges to Win More Interviews" to give
professionals a competitive edge in the job hunt and share
her secrets for a 98% interview-winning success rate.
Get Laura's FREE E-Course on "The 7 Biggest Resume Mistakes
That Can Keep You From Your Dream Job" at
http://www.anexpertresume.com/ecourse_signup.htm .
No comments:
Post a Comment