Recently I found myself in job search mode for the first time in five years. I found plenty of sources “jobs” posted all over the internet in places such as:
- Job boards (e.g., Career Builder, Monster,, Indeed, etc.)
- State created job sites (i.e., Jobs4Jersey)
- LinkedIn and other similar professional networking groups
- Industry specific job sites
- Individual company “career” pages.
I am not going to discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of these sites other than to say it was difficult to figure out which jobs were duplicated from one site to the next, and which ads were just unprofessional “head-hunters” trolling for resumes. However, the one thing they all have in common is that you end up either applying on a website (after creating an account) or sending a resume to an anonymous looking email. Either way you end up providing an uncomfortable amount of personal information).
What becomes of these applications? God only knows because you will NEVER hear from most of them! They don’t even give you the courtesy of a rejection letter. Some computer sitting in a data center screened your resume and found you to be “incorrect” for the job. All this really means is you failed to include the magic key words this computer was looking for, and no human ever looked at you credentials. Or, conversely, some totally unde- qualified human scanned your resume and didn’t see the magic keywords they were told to look for, but don’t understand anyway.
I applied for nearly 100 jobs openings. I admit I wasn’t a perfect match for them all, but I could have done a terrific job for at least two-thirds of them. Out of all of those applications, I received six email rejections! Only 6 out of 100- not a great response rate at all. I also don’t believe for a minute “we’ll keep your resume on file in case a matching job comes up”.
I realize there are many, many applicants for each job posted but I really think employers are missing out on some great talent because they are doing such a terrible job of screening applicants. This is why it is CRITICAL for anyone looking for a job to network, network, network! And don’t wait until you are looking for a job! Start building your network now and never stop! Your chances of getting an interview are tremendously higher if you have a contact inside the company who is willing to bring your resume to the hiring manager.
This is where I think small business is at a distinct advantage! Small business owners don’t pay poorly programmed machines, or use inept employees to screen applications- they often do it themselves, or have trusted coworkers help them with the task. They can see the “diamonds in the rough” when a job applicant with a terrific background might not have formatted her resume in such a way as to let a computer flag it for further inspection.
I am happy to say that I found a nice contract job (via my networking) and then a full-time job through one of the few good recruiters out there.
If you have tips to help people find jobs, or for employers looking for good employees, let us all know by leaving a comment below!
