Part 11 (1/2)
The major daily newspapers are still a rich source of job openings and not just in the cla.s.sified section. Careerbuilder.com is a product of Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company, which combined represent more than 130 newspapers. Careerbuilder is the vehicle I suggest my clients use because it has both national and local pull through the newspapers. Most major papers have their own online cla.s.sified section in which jobs are archived. Go back through the online archives 30 to 60 days because many jobs are not filled the first time they are advertised: is a product of Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company, which combined represent more than 130 newspapers. Careerbuilder is the vehicle I suggest my clients use because it has both national and local pull through the newspapers. Most major papers have their own online cla.s.sified section in which jobs are archived. Go back through the online archives 30 to 60 days because many jobs are not filled the first time they are advertised: * Post your resume if the site allows and enroll for the online cla.s.sifieds Job Alert program, which notifies you of matches with your background. * Post your resume if the site allows and enroll for the online cla.s.sifieds Job Alert program, which notifies you of matches with your background.* Always check the cla.s.sifieds. Display ads, or the ”Career Section” as it is commonly referred to, are very expensive, as much as 100 times more costly than the cla.s.sified ”word ads.” Small- and medium-size companies use the cla.s.sified section.* Business journals are full of decision makers. To find the one in your city:or or .* Review the ”appointments” or ”onward and upward” column for the names of recently promoted or appointed executives. Send them your resume.* Find out where the recently hired people came from because their old company may now be in the middle of a search that is a perfect fit for you.
Most importantly, read the business and city sections to see what is going on in your town. Which companies are growing or announcing new products? They may be prime candidates for your skills. Years ago when I first got into the headhunting business, I was trained like every other recruiter in how to troll for leads. I read the cla.s.sifieds every day and called the companies to see if I could help. My pitch was, ”I have candidates who exactly fit your requirements,” along with a bunch of other lame openers, and then I tried to overcome their objections to paying me to replicate their efforts ... ... with disappointing but predictable results. with disappointing but predictable results.
I soon realized that by the time an employer advertised a position, it was too late to try to sell my services. I would be competing with their newspaper ad and dozens of other recruiters to fill that slot, and frankly I wasn't that good of a salesperson. I needed an alternative-fast! Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
Quite accidentally, I read an article about a new office building being built. Still wet behind the ears and not realizing I was supposed to wait until they called us, I phoned the general manager and asked him if we could have coffee and talk about his project. The next day we spent most of the morning talking about the hurdles he faced in getting a team of construction guys together in time to complete the project. I volunteered to help and left with my first job order in hand. I knew nothing about construction, so I started calling my friends to see if any of them knew anyone in the construction business who would have coffee with me.
I found a guy who tutored me in the intricacies of hiring a construction manager: what to look for and where to look. I finished that project and was quickly hired to do 7 more. They put me on retainer, gave me a company credit card, and offered me access to the company jet.
All-in-all, I hired 37 people in 4 cities and never ran a newspaper ad-not once! Yet, I found the lead in the newspaper. So read between the lines of the business section and don't hesitate to call the president of a company you read about; he or she may be facing the same challenge as my first client. To this day, I still find the bulk of my projects by reading the business section, and I have little compet.i.tion from other recruiters who are still getting their leads the old-fas.h.i.+oned way.
Job Boards
According to John Sumser, the president of Interbiz.com, a firm that monitors the comings-and-goings in the electronic recruiting industry, there are approximately 42,000 different job boards. So, where do you start looking? First, there is no master list. Nor is there any way to register at more than one board at a time. To make matters even more interesting, Monsterboard, which at the time of my writing was the largest, has approximately 75,000 customers. With more than 10 million businesses in the United States, that means the industry leader has less than a 1 percent market share ().
Job boards do not share information with each other, so you need to register with as many as you can find time for. Only those companies that pay a fee can post a job or review your resume. Some sites are so expensive they are only used by the Fortune 1000, so if you are looking for a job in a small business, you are better off using niche boards.
Register yourself at all the top job boards and you will cover 2 percent of the available jobs. The usual rule in marketing is that the top 20 percent of companies in an industry own 80 percent of the market. Not true here, obviously. You can find niche job boards for your industry by going to the Google search engine at and typing in the words: ”job board” and your niche (e.g., ”retail” ”construction” ”software”) and hitting the Google Search b.u.t.ton. That command in Google will bring you a list of job boards specific to your industry. You can also find niche job boards by function (e.g., sales or accounting at typing in the words: ”job board” and your niche (e.g., ”retail” ”construction” ”software”) and hitting the Google Search b.u.t.ton. That command in Google will bring you a list of job boards specific to your industry. You can also find niche job boards by function (e.g., sales or accounting at ).
MAKE TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR YOU
The past 5 years have seen an explosion in technology that makes your job so much easier. Today, get more information faster than ever. Job aggregators, job alerts, news alerts are all readily available. Uncover potential job leads at the job aggregators, which are spider engines that go to all of the job boards (, , , ). If you haven't already done so, subscribe to them and sign up now. It's free. To research newly available jobs from company web sites, try .
SimplyHired is the largest of the aggregators. Besides supplying jobs directly to Mys.p.a.ce and Facebook, they have some amazing widgets and tools.
Job Widgets
You can add their Mys.p.a.ce Job Alerts Mys.p.a.ce Job Alerts to your Mys.p.a.ce homepage to see the newest jobs daily. Likewise, their to your Mys.p.a.ce homepage to see the newest jobs daily. Likewise, their Workin' It! Workin' It! application on Facebook. application on Facebook. Job Search Widget Job Search Widget brings new jobs to your iGoogle homepage, your blog, or your computer's desktop. brings new jobs to your iGoogle homepage, your blog, or your computer's desktop. Mobile Jobs Mobile Jobs lets people on the go access millions of jobs from the palm of your hand-literally! lets people on the go access millions of jobs from the palm of your hand-literally!
Job Tools
You can save your search preferences and saved jobs in the My Jobs My Jobs tab. Set up your own tab. Set up your own e-mail alerts e-mail alerts to send jobs when and where you want. The to send jobs when and where you want. The RSS Feed RSS Feed sends the jobs you're interested in to you in real time, while the sends the jobs you're interested in to you in real time, while the Local Jobs Local Jobs function lets you search by city block or other region. You can check function lets you search by city block or other region. You can check Salaries Salaries and and Trends Trends as well. There are also numerous job-related as well. There are also numerous job-related Forums Forums as well. as well.
By taking advantage of these systems, you allow technology to work for you, saving you valuable time and resources. Being a guerrilla is all about making the most of every minute. Put these ideas to work today.
GUERRILLA TIPS.
* Look for positions that are 1 or 2 levels above yours; they can give you clues to what is happening at a particular company and may hint at other positions that will soon be filled. When a company is looking for a new vice president of marketing, you can almost guarantee the new hire will realign the team he or she inherits. The same holds true for sales and engineering.* Register at local job boards because most employers advertise and source candidates locally first.* If you do not want to be bothered at home by recruiters, you should list an e-mail address as your main point of contact, preferably one you can cancel when you find a job.
GUERRILLA INTELLIGENCE.
How Best to Use Job Boards Steven Rothberg
Job boards have been around almost since the dawn of the Internet and became popular in the mid-1990s with the birth of some of today's biggest and best job boards. They're wonderful tools for both job seekers and employers, yet like all tools they can be dangerous in the hands of someone who misuses them. The following tips will maximize your chances of finding a great new job as quickly as possible.