Finding jobs

Among the many messages I get in my hotmail account every morning informing me how to get out of debt or obtain university diplomas, I also get the likes of:

After trying a few of these stunning opportunities and handing over my house as a down payment to get into these 'can't lose' careers, I came to the startling realization that I was not only homeless, but without a career.
Sitting around with their hands in their pockets waiting for opportunities to fall from the sky seems to work for some people. However, not all of us are blessed with such good karma, and seeking a job in itself can become a full time job.

The options you have to choose between are generally the following:

ONLINE INTERNET RECRUITMENT SITES
More and more companies are turning to online job boards and recruitment companies to find the staff they need. The reason is that it is cheaper, quicker and can reach more people than newspaper ads. For you, the jobseeker, you can be active or passive, meaning you either respond to job ads, or you simply leave your CV on the site to be searched by companies. You can search jobs by many different variables, greatly enhancing your chance of finding the job you want. If this is the way of the future then the future is now.
If you have not yet posted your CV with us, but want companies to be able to make you job offers, then why not post your CV

PRINTED JOB ADS
Is this a dinosaur? Not yet at least, but more and more companies are turning online to post their jobs, either to job boards or on their own company web pages. You’ll tend to find more management jobs in print, simply because business people tend to read the newspaper daily and not necessarily surf job boards. But if working abroad is something you are considering then posting your CV with CV-Europe is a unique opportunity for you.

RECRUITMENT COMPANIES
With the development of Internet job sites there are decreasing numbers of placements through the traditional offline recruitment agencies. Mostly these are for top executive positions, but online and offline recruitment are beginning to realize the advantages of each other and the future is moving rapidly towards a union of strengths. CV-Online has added offline recruitment as a business model, using its own online database as a resource, and our offline recruiters scour the database, interview candidates and hand deliver candidates directly to the employer.

NETWORKING
This is still a very effective way of finding work, and some companies rely strongly upon this method. For you however, it does not offer the volume or diversity of jobs that other methods do. Networking simply involves putting the word among your friends, colleagues and contacts that you are looking for a new job. If you’re ready for a change of jobs, why not tell your current boss that you really would like to advance yourself and take on new responsibilities. Provided you’re a good worker, you are much more likely to be considered for another position in the company than people from outside the company, and your interest and ambition will work strongly for you in the eyes of your employer.

APPROACHING EMPLOYERS WHO ARE NOT ADVERTSING
Mass mailing your CV to all the companies you ever wanted to work for is not a bad idea…provided you write a personalized cover letter for each company. Since you are not sure what positions are available, if any, your letter will be more general than if you were applying for a specific job. But you will still want to be as specific as possible, and addressing your letter to the person making the hiring decisions is important. Your best source for this info is the Internet. Otherwise pick up the phone and call them to find out this information.
Don’t expect a high response rate with mass mailing, but most companies will store your CV whether they are hiring or not for times of need.

SUMMARY
Your best bet is to use a combination of all of these strategies. The Society for Human Resource Management polled human resource professionals and jobseekers about their search tactics. Ninety-six percent of job seekers said they used Internet job postings, but 95 percent also used networking and printed ads. The use of job boards is obviously very popular, but it only makes sense to use as many sources as you can. As for companies, personal contact/networking was reported as the most effective tactic with Internet job postings coming a close second. What this means is you need to post your CV on job sites. Post your CV

Next topic: CV writing – Our experts give you essentials pointers for CV writing and for marketing yourself properly.