My JOB SEARCH: What pays off.

Last post I covered how I got my new job after a sudden layoff.  Now a little more detail - just what I did specifically and how it paid off.

When I did my search I did three things:

• I contacted ever single recruiter and past contact I had and asked for advice and references.
• I went shotgun and tried every search site, job posting site, and job aggregator I could find, and kept evaluating which ones worked best.  I put in 6-10 hours per weekday doing this.
• I went to recruitment sites and sent in resumes to all recruiting companies I could find.

The results:

• Half my leads were from recruiters who had done posting of positions.  The majority of these leads were in the industry I had most experience in.  Only one lead to an interview with a client.
• My most successful lead was when I had seen a job posting at a board, and pursued it due to industry interest and research.
• My second most successful lead came from the direct reference of a co-worker (in fact had the first lead not worked out, this one probably would have).
• I got the most direct interviews when applying directly to companies via their websites or via job boards.
• I had mixed results with contacting recruiters and placement agencies.  I got no results for some, good ones form others.

I often hear that you want to target specific companies and rely on networking to find jobs, and I'd say these results bear it out.  Though I could get a lot of responses, all the fast movement happened when I either networked or applied to companies/industries I'd researched and followed.

Recruiters and temp/placement agencies are often useful middlemen in finding a job, and in my experience a lot of high-level, specific, and contract postings are from them.  You may want to try cutting out the middleman and contacting local recruiting companies in your area directly.  This is a very hit-miss experience because if you don't see said companies doing job postings, chances are they may not have anything for you (unless some are very selective).  At the same time, these companies often have access to unique opportunities, and when you find a good one, it can pay off incredibly well - several recruiters I've met worked their tails off for me (and I paid them back by passing on other quality resumes from friends).  I'll cover more about recruiters in another post.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• The "shotgun" approach to using every job board is useful and possibly even necessary, but I see it more as something you do when you're done with networking for the day.  It may pay off in many leads, but it doesn't close as easily as other opportunities.
• Recruiters are in an unpredictable situation in this economy, but are worth contacting for the payoff a good one provides.  Also remember many job postings are by recruiters, so you can "meet" a whole new company by sending in a resume.
• Networking yields results very well, which is what most any job search book will tell you.
• Targeting specific companies and industries pays off well.
• I got much better results applying through company websites.

- Steve