I am soon to become unemployed (my situation is described here, if you are interested). The last time I actively looked for work was in the late 80s (I have changed jobs since then, but generally I was recruited, I did not need to look). Back then, the advice I would have given someone was simple;
[ul]
[li]Network (call all your friends and their friends). If that doesn’t work;[/li][li]Get a recommendation for an agent (someone who will not simply send out your resume to every shop in town) and stick with them for as long as possible.[/li][/ul]
Of course, this was before the internet and there are many more possibilities now. I would especially like to hear from people with recent job hunting experience. Monster.com? LinkedIn?
I’m a programmer/developer.
Other than a college internship and my first development job out of school (mid 00’s), ALL of my jobs came from posting my resume online and waiting for calls. Most or all of these were through recruiting firms.
I got calls all through the recession. My skillset seems to be pretty good.
Incorrectly tried to post a topic by replying to another.
Where did you post it? Monster? Are there alternatives? Perhaps more industry specific?
Monster, basically. most if not all of my leads come from posting on Monster.
I’ve used dice.com in the past. I posted my resume last December and got a whole bunch of calls within a few days.
Networking is still the best way to do it, but if your network isn’t super-robust, Monster & Dice seem pretty good these days.
A trick is to update your resume or profile weekly; Monster in particular shows search results newest to oldest.
**How Do People in IT Look for Work Nowadays? **
Rather slovenly in my opinion 
The answer is going to depend on your location and willingness to relocate. There are plenty of jobs available in the Boston area, and I assume NY and some other major metro areas. As others said, networking is the best way. Nothing beats a personal recommendation. Contact everyone you know in the industry, friends, family, former colleagues, old classmates, and let them know you are looking. I’ve always been leery of resumes from Monster and the like, it seems like qualified people wouldn’t need to go that route. But if you need a job, you ought to try everything. Your best bets are jobs exactly like the one you were doing before, in the same industry, same size business, same work environment, same software and hardware environment.
I have had luck posting on Monster and using recruiters who specialize in IT placements. Indeed.com is a good meta-search site to check out as well. I wish I could network, but having moved out of state last year and worked as a temp with very small teams/employers, it’s not really feasible for me.
Dice.com really is focused on IT jobs. Monster.com is more broad - all kinds of jobs.
Pfft.
Start your own company.
Do what you know best and learn from others.
Network.
Eat beans and rice for 2 or 3 years.
Profit!
I have gotten almost all my jobs by initially temping. Though it’s getting harder, from what I hear, to get temp-to-hire work.
Would my recommending vworker.com be along the lines of what you’re looking for? Maybe freelance until you get hired?
Have you (or anyone else reading this) used vworker.com?
I just started looking, and I’m using Dice and LinkedIn. LinkedIn is pretty interesting… I’m finding some of the people I’ve worked with in the past are now at companies that have job openings. So I have an instant reference that I never would have known about otherwise.
Compared with typing cover letters and putting them into snail mail, this is great. Everything is online and it’s SO much easier.
I personally have not, but I live at a board full of people who work at home, and that’s their favorite (over odesk and freelancer). I now have a full-time telecommute job, and make extra money writing and titling, so I’m all set.