Job Search Using the Web to Succeed
A modern job search campaign is by nature often complex. While the internet has offered a variety of new channels, it also creates increased competition for choice jobs and possible challenges for job hunters.
Job search needs to be thought of as a personal, very targeted marketing operation where you are the product. Your resume is an ad. Your extended network of associates is your inside source for information and job leads.
So where does the internet fit in? At AA-Careers, we just posted a job on a popular job site and got more than 650 responses in a week. For one opening. That’s increased competition for jobs.
Had the right person contacted us before we ran the posting, they could have landed the job prior to getting all that competition. How? By knowing an employee at our office who became aware of the job prior to posting. Everyone knew of the job for at least 9 days before it was posted. Who in your network might know of a job that’s coming available soon?
Be careful to check your application materials thoroughly before submitting them. When we did an analysis of the 650 resumes, we found a large number of errors. 63% of the applicants were easily eliminated with a fast-paced triage process. How? The same way any HR professional would. By passing over resumes where the objective didn’t match our job description. By passing over prospects whose cover letters gave us reasons not to engage them, like "I know I’m overqualified but I really need a job". By eliminating job hunters whose documents that didn’t open properly. And by eliminating prospects who didn’t trouble to spell check their cover letter and/or resume.
So the great news is that job sites give you a sense of who is hiring, and for what kinds of jobs. But once those jobs are posted, the competition is intense. You can still try, if you have a well written resume, designed to appeal directly and clearly to the recruiter. And if you have practiced interviewing – so you don’t stumble at a critical point.
Another issue to be aware of is how quickly you can be checked out on the web. As we Googled several job hunters, we ran into some Facebook comments that were in questionable taste. Nothing crazy, but enough to sway our thoughts about who to hire.
AA-Careers provides a comprehensive set of services for Bay Area job seekers, providing our clients a personal career consultant, a managed job hunting campaign, modern tools like a personal website, video, highly targeted resume, and much more. Let us know if we can help you.
Be careful out there, and good hunting!
