Finding a Job Using the Web to Succeed
The Internet offers huge opportunities for a job seeker, but also presents several possible challenges. It also adds many complexities, and a lot more things to consider…and be wary of.
Job search needs to be thought of as a personalized, highly targeted marketing process where you are the product. Your resume is an ad. Your extended network is your lead generating machine.
So where does the web fit in? At AA-Careers, we recently posted a job on Craigslist and got 600 plus applications in a calendar week. For one opening. That’s increased competition for job openings.
Had a strong candidate called us ahead of our posting that ad, they could have landed the position before having all that competition. How? By knowing someone at our company who became aware of the job prior to posting. Everyone knew about of the job for at least 14 days before it was posted. Who in your network might know of a job that’s coming available soon?
Be sure to check your application matierials carefully! 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 speedy triage process. How? The same way any hiring manager would. By eliminating resumes where the objective didn’t match our job posting. By rejecting prospects whose cover letters gave us causes not to employ them, like "I know I’m overqualified but I really need a job". By eliminating prospects 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 good news is that job sites give you a sense of who is hiring, and for what kinds of positions. But once those positions are posted, the competition is intense. You can still compete, if you have a well honed 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 downside to be aware of is how quickly you can be checked out on the internet. As we Googled several job hunters, we ran into some Facebook comments that were in questionable taste. Nothing insane, but enough to sway our thoughts about who to choose.
AA-Careers provides a encompassing 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!
