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| Job and Candidate Hunting Tips |
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| Written by Phuc | ||||||
| Sunday, 11 October 2009 20:45 | ||||||
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Job hunting and candidate searching could be a full-time job effort, whether it's for a job, contract or freelance. I searched hundreds of ads, examined/communicated w/several companies, gone through some interviews. If you're a recruiter/company, this would likely be useful to you as well, to be able to hear it from a candidate perspective. In my search for web opportunities, I found that looking through job sites may not be enough. For the past year and a half, I have noticed opportunties being posted less and less frequently. I go beyond the job sites to get the most out of my job hunt.For awhile I had searched sites like CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com, Craigslist.org and Indeed.com (a compilation of several career sites) with search terms like "web developer" or "web programming." Few years ago, when the economy wasn't as bad, it much was easier to get an abundance of job results. But now, when we're getting much fewer results or mixed results, we have to figure out ways to maximize our opportunities. We could possibly increase results by figuring out the different job titles employers or potential clients use, for similar positions. For example, I have even found plenty of cases where job opportunities were titled "web design" or "computer engineer" but the job description was described a role for a web developer (which to me is are 3 different species). Idealy, instead of going by job titles, I started going by description and typing keywords such as "javascript", "php", or "ajax," allowing a search for ANY of those words. (Sometimes you might have to go under "Advanced Search" or type in "javascript OR php OR ajax"). I would get a much bigger list with many various job titles, but because I'm going by terms that would be in the job description, it would match more of what I wanted to do. So even if these keywords give you titles that don't match what you're looking for, click on it anyways and read the job description because it's in there and employers may be using different terminologies either because they define it differently or they are unsure of the proper title. My advice for candidates and recruiters to help maximize candidate search is to ask around candidates (what they consider themselves) or research to job titles that would best match the job descriptions. Most importantly, not all companies post their ads on job boards, just post jobs only on or their web site, or may not even be posting any jobs. I would one or more of these reasons: a) because they are so big that candidates are flocking to them b) they feel it's not something they'd spend on c) they prefer recruiters to find them a top notch candidate In any case, I would think of any employers that I might want to work for, and go to their website. There's also a more tedious search that I did by looking at google maps under Text, typing in the industry, city and state you want to work in, like "Web design New York, NY," for example. I'd look through one by one each company's website, and if it's interesting, I'd check career pages, if any, email/apply. Even if they don't have any job ads or career pages, I emailed them anyways, asking if they would consider a candidate and received quite a few responses from that. Other Important Notes: Craigslist I've had some luck but had to be very cautious of questionable job ads. Due to the vagueness of many posts (not listing their contact info, company name, location, etc), I would not recommend sending out your resume and contact information right away. What I usually do is email them first, (sort of like a cover letter), give an over all description of my experience and skills, and ask them for their company information including phone numbers. From there, I'd speak to them on the phone before meeting with them. I'd also make sure that their location is in an actual office and in a location such as their house or in a basement. Be careful of scams involving money transfers by Western Union: Nigeria is pretty notorious for this. I can't remember where, but I saw a news clip about it as well. They will list it as some work-at-home job, "Accountant" or "Money Manager Assistant" They actually steal bank information, have you make bogus checks, transfer money, and give you a portion of it. I've received plenty of job ads for these scams, and they'd disguise themselves labeling it as Career Builder, when it's actually being sent from a regular email account such as hotmail. My advise would be to report the emails to sites that investigate these cases. At the moment I saved these emails until I could find where to submit it. Also be careful of these types of Recruiters: -Recruiters who don't have an actual position, or send bulk emails in bulk to multiple recipients. I believe they are using some sort of software that automatically matches candidates based on what is in your profile (if you posted it on a job site). I don't bother responding or just block them, even if they are big companies. Before I realized this, I used to respond to every single one, but it became overwhelming in my inbox like spam. Now I don't disclose my email on the site. Some of them forget that they sent it to me and send the same exact emails multiple times. I can usually see this when a) it doesn't include my name or b)It includes my name, but only a job description, and no personal message that indicates that they actually read my resume. c)a job that has absolutely nothing -Some recruiters who just seem like they are collecting resumes to submit to their managers/clients (quantity verses quality). I've ran into many situations where recruiters asked me to send them a copy of my resume, and then I never hear from them again. -Recruiters who won't meet with you. I believe this could be a reflection of how legit the recruiter is or how serious they are. If a recruiter is serious about matching you with a good job and at the same time matching their client with a candidate, then they would meet with you to make sure they can present themselves in an interview. -Recruiters who submit your resume with companies without your permission. This can hurt you in your job search. Whether recruiters realize it or not, it can hurt the recruiting agency as well. Some companies don't want to deal with recruiters, or their fees, so if you're talking to that company and all of a sudden the recruiter is talking to the company "for you," chances are, the company would not want to deal with you either. For a recruiter, it could hurt them as well in terms of reputation and respect from the candidate or client. Candidates may start questioning why companies no longer wants to talk to them and companies may wonder, why a recruiter is contacting them when the candidate already came directly to them in the first place. -Recruiters who have little to no information about the client. -Recruiters who know little about what you do, despite "reading" your resume. -Recruiters who won't give you feed back -Recruiters who's intention is to really help themselves. (Remember, they are typically on a commission). These recruiters may:
a) pressure you into take a gig/job
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