Quintessential Careers Press:
The Quintessential Guide to Job-Hunting on the Internet
Introduction
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If you're new to job-hunting on the Internet, you may not be familiar with all the ways the 'Net can help with career development, career planning, and finding a job. This book is intended to guide you through the process and give you a taste of what's out there in cyberspace to assist you in finding the job or career of your dreams.
Keep in mind that the Internet sites described in this book are just the tip of the iceberg. Quintessential Careers, for example, lists hundreds of additional sites that may be helpful to use in your search, depending on your background, interests, and career path.
As much as I support all the wonderful ways the Internet can contribute to your job search, I strongly advise you not to put all your job-hunting eggs in the Internet basket.
Today's successful job search must be diversified -- with a mix of high-tech Web-based approaches and traditional low-tech job-hunting techniques. Almost half of job-seekers still get their jobs through networking (see chart), and one survey by the workplace consulting firm Drake Beam Morin indicated that 61 percent of executives found their positions through networking. Because networking is still the best way to find a job, a diversified job search is key. Don’t depend too much on the Internet and be strategic about the time you spend searching for Web-based job-postings and submitting your resume. Relegate the biggest chunk of your job-hunting time to shoring up your contacts and seeking referrals.
As we’ll see later in this book, employers are inundated with resumes submitted electronically. Would you rather compete on a playing field where employers are overwhelmed with the sheer numbers of resume submissions -- or in less competitive venues, such as networking situations, where you have more chance of standing out and impressing a prospective employer?
At Quint Careers, we've heard from job-seekers who spend eight or more hours a day sitting at their computers. Internet job-hunting can be effective, but you've also got to get out there and actually talk to people. Many job-seekers still choose to plop themselves down at their computers and submit resumes because, let’s face it, networking is hard; posting resumes on job boards is relatively easy. Receiving resumes over the Internet has made some aspects of recruiting easier on employers, but because they must balance that ease of receiving applications against the cost of screening all the applicants, they become increasingly dependent on recommendations from people who know the candidates – which is where networking comes in. For example, a reader of Nick Corcodilos's “Ask the Headhunter” feature noted, "In my years of being on both sides of the hiring fence, I have yet to see one person fail to get a job when they had a personal referral."
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