Advanced technology allows information to flow instantly 24/7/365, which is why job boards have become larger and more sophisticated. But before you boot up your computer, you need to know which boards to use.
1: National Job Boards: They average 200,000 job opportunities and an equal amount of candidate resumes covering all 50 states in countless categories. The most well know is monster.com.
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Advantages: The main advantage is sheer volume. Another advantage is for job seekers in a position to relocate. They are also good for candidates with desirable skill sets for a hard to fill job.
Disadvantages: Over-saturation; plus most jobs are out of New York and very few are for small and midsize companies and for candidates without a degree or specialized skills. Also, over 50 percent of the job openings and over 70 percent of the resume searches are from some form of recruitment firm who can only refer you; not hire you.
2: Industry and Profession Specific Job Boards: These are also national in scope but have a niche market such as IT, accounting, teachers or candidates seeking over $100k. An example of this is Dice.com.
Advantages: Have advantages of other national boards, but also have a niche and are more receptive to people who would relocate. They’re also great for finding recruiters specializing in your field.
Disadvantages: Also over-saturation and they tend to look for the Top 20 percent of available talent.
A Word Of Caution: Don’t submit or post a resume unless it is in ASCII format. If you don’t know how to format in ASCII, call me.
3: Local, Newspaper, Organization Job Boards: Local Boards like Craigslist work for many. And online newspaper classifieds, like www.jewishpress.com, and job boards from organizations are helpful, as are college alumni websites.
Advantages: Most obviously, they cater to the area you live in and have a larger listing of mid and lower level jobs, internships, part-time jobs and jobs that national boards don’t carry, such as caregivers, tutors, etc.
Disadvantages: People rely on them too much and forget to network.
4: Corporate and Recruiter Websites: More and more companies list their jobs and accept unsolicited resumes on their websites. Research potential employers in your field and visit everyone’s web site to see if they post jobs. If they do, bookmark the site and visit it regularly. Also, every good recruitment firm will post some of its jobs and accept unsolicited resumes.
Advantages: By visiting corporate websites you can gain an education into the industry and the company, and you’ll have a lot of good information to use on an interview, and if you have something to offer, a smart recruiter will contact you to add to their roster and network.
Disadvantages: Most companies don’t pull jobs that are filled from their site and some recruiters will want to use you rather than help you.
5: Social Networking and Information Exchange websites: Social networking sites are a gray area in the frum community and although I personally find these sites useful in business, I can understand the reluctance of some of you to use them.
Advantages: There are two kinds of SN sites; the more social ones like Facebook and Myspace and professional ones like LinkedIn. I prefer the professional sites because: (a) they list actual jobs; (b) people here want to share business contacts, and information; (c) they have great professional groups where people will answer your business questions and give you inside information you can use on job interviews. On Facebook and LinkedIn you can reconnect with people you lost touch with.
Disadvantages: On sites like Facebook you have less control of content and need to be more careful.
Email Perry at [email protected]. Also visit www.jewishpress.comand search “Perry Newman” for past articles.
Perry Newman, CPC, is President/CEO of Fist Impressions Resumes (www.firstimpressionsresumes.biz) in Brooklyn, and has over 30 years experience as a resume writer, career coach and executive recruiter. If you need help writing your resume, or would like to receive a copy of ‘Job Hunting in the 21st Century, call me at 646-894-4101.
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