Yes. It was weird, because, previously, according to Mr. Tamex, their policy was to post a job to internal applicants only for a certain length of time, and then, if they didn’t find anyone satisfactory, to open it to the outside. However, for some reason, they opened this job to the outside right away, and, understandibly, got deluged with resumes. I think they wasted a lot of people’s time with that one. I thought that the interview had gone well, too. Oh, well.
Hmmm…while I did say that I got my job through Monster, I did not use Monster’s resume thingy. I just e-mailed my resumes directly to the companies in text and/or word format. I didn’t really know that companies didn’t like Monster resumes–my thinking was that I had spent all that time making those look good, so why waste it? The ads from my current company don’t accept Monster resumes–they direct you to the job posting on their website, where you can then post your resume.
A few months ago I heard from someone whose job it is to help people find jobs that Internet job searches are a waste of time … just too much competition from what’s out there. She didn’t mention bogus ads, but i know from work experience that some fimrs are in fact required to post jobs whether they intend to hire from within or not.
I’d say send out resumes to internet listings if you’re not swamped with more productive leads (in which case, hyou’re not likely to remain unemployed fro long) but don’t put a lot of time and effort into it. Just get your resume out there and send out a pre-written cover letter asking for an interview. Do it to as many job listings as you can – as random as the Internet listings clearly are, it’s definitely a numbers game.
I once got a job, and my wife has her current job, by picking out an employer I wanted to work for and hounding them for a job until I got one. The implied flattery seems to be a pretty good thing. Just don’t do or say anythign that sends you into stalker territory in others’ minds.
I work in a very specialized profession – urban planning. It’s nearly impossible to find planning-related job listings in the newspaper, so most resort to specialty publications, most of which have free Internet listings. All the job interviews I’ve had so far have been the result of replies to online job listings.
I concur with elmwood. If you work in a narrow field, there are sometimes very good specialized sites out there. I work in college fundraising, and I found both of my jobs on the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) website. True, there were jobs that I applied to that were already taken but, for the most part, CASE did its best to remove the postings once they were filled. An all-encompassing site like Monster wouldn’t have the resources to do that.
I really hated hated hated internet job boards, but every time I was out of work I’d hit them up, because you never know. And wouldn’t you know, I got the job I have now through monster.com. I’m surprised too.
I’m starting a new job a week on Monday - a recruiter saw my resume on Monster and contacted me. It seems very keyword-based – I suspect a majority of the searches are automated – so having .NET all over my resume probably went a long way.
I got my former job from Monster.com. The job wasn’t the one I applied for, though.
I have my current job through the internet. The job itself is part time and the only way to apply is through the net on the company website.
While the internet may not be the best place to look for a job it can be a good place to network. My current job was sent to me by a friend I met when I started an email friendship with her.
So while I would say that internet job sites like Monster don’t always work in your favor, you can use the net to gain jobs in other ways.
I also always found the net useful during the interview process. Many companies have websites. You’re probably going to get asked questions about the company itself during the interview and the company’s website is often a really great place to start searching for info so you can answer at least some of those questions.
Another thing I would do is go to the public library and find out if they have access to Lexis-Nexis. You can use that database to find out who’s in charge of what in many companies. If you’re interested in that company you then have many names where you can direct your resume to instead of the generic HR department.
I was shocked last night when looking over careerone.com.au (supposedly our biggest and best) on a friend’s behalf to find that it has been effectively spammed with army recruitment ads. I put in specific location, type of work, type of industry, relevant keywords and got 2 pages of army recruitment ads, none of which had any relationship whatsoever to the details I had put in. I guess they figure that if you are looking for a job in a very specific sector of mental health and don’t find one you may be willing to join the infantry or become an engineer. I also found other jobs that were not in the specified location. I want Melbourne, do not show me jobs in Sydney unless I say I want them.
A few years back I had good luck with online job sites but this was enough to send me back to newspapers.
My current job came from posting my resume on hotjobs, and a legal temp agency picking it up and offering me a 19$ per hour, 67 hour per week position at which I am currently making 1000$+ a week, after taxes. While at this new job, I also got two calls from people who wanted to hire me after I sent my resumes into Craigslist postings.
Congratulations and good luck! And how come you’ve been around so long and I’m first noticing you’re in Redondo Beach (as am I and my husband, Spiny Norman, who, by the way, found his current job at Universal Music through an internet job board (IIRC it was dice.com)). Anyway, howdy neighbor!
