| Job Search: What Changed? |
|
by Alex Freund |
 People
who haven’t been looking for jobs for a while are in for
a real shock. The rules of the game have changed
significantly. To be effective at finding a job, one
needs to involve everybody one knows. Finding a job
while being low-key and discreet like in the past will
take forever! Newspaper ads have been replaced by the
Internet, and one needs to learn to use company
websites, online job boards, and online social
networks—not to mention extensive use of the computer.
Among the online job boards, some are broad and general,
while others are specific to an industry or a profession
or other criteria. Most job boards let you post your
résumé, search for open positions and, fill out
applications online. Often, the communication is one way
except for unsolicited spam. Among the most popular
sites are careerbuilder.com, careerjournal.com,
craiglist.org, and monster.com. And there are several
aggregators such as indeed.com, and simplyhired.com,
which help make the search more efficient.
Using external recruiters is another avenue for job
seekers. At the medium-income level, they are called
contingency recruiters, and they’re competing with
other recruiters. At higher income levels, they’re
called
retained recruiters, and they’re paid for the work
they do regardless of whether they place people.
Recruiters whether retained or contingency typically
specialize in certain fields. Developing satisfactory
and long-term relationships with some of them is a good
investment of one’s time.
Today’s résumés have gone through a face-lift. Generic
résumés are lacking and need certain fine-tuning so they
match the specifics mentioned in the job description.
Last decade’s résumés listed the various activities
similar to the job description. Today’s employers want
to see
quantifiable accomplishments—and in dollars and
percentages. One needs to emphasize specific skills and
abilities to accomplish results as a member of a
multidisciplinary and, possibly, international team. The
résumé needs to show flexibility because of the dynamic
nature of business today, and it needs to show
resourcefulness and expanded responsibilities over time.
But probably the most important change lies in the fact
that the
résumé has to contain the right keywords. Most
résumés are scanned into an
applicant-tracking system and will never resurface
unless they have the right keywords. |
