I often get asked about which job sites clients should use. Here are the sites you need to know…
I’m going to share with you the sites you should be looking at in just a minute, but first let me say this… The very first thing I tell my clients is that searching online for a job is likely to be a giant black hole.
Sitting at your computer applying to positions makes you feel proactive, but it doesn’t get results. Results are achieved through networking.
Think of it this way: I’m a hiring manager with an open position. So, I hire a recruiter to go out and find someone for the role. The recruiter doesn’t really know all that much about my business and what I need, so I need to be highly specific about my ideal candidate.
The recruiter, in other words, isn’t given any flexibility in what to look for.
The recruiter then posts the position and 400 or so people apply. The recruiter can’t read all these resumes, so they use software to filter the resumes and give the recruiter a smaller number to review… say 40. The recruiter takes the 8 or so best and forwards them on to me.
This means that you have a 2% chance of me even seeing your resume. Add to that the vast number of jobs that are never even posted online, and you can see how focusing on an online search is a giant waste of time.
Worse, if you are a non-traditional candidate you can see that you have no chance of surviving this process.
The Best Job Search Sites
This isn’t to say job search sites are completely useless. They can be very informative about which companies are hiring and can help you identify positions… you just need to couple a digital search with a networking based search.
This article, on The Best Job Sites for 2017 by Reviews.com highlights the best websites to use (Indeed, Glassdoor rank at the top) and also points out a statistic by the New York Federal Reserve that I think everyone should take to heart:
“For every one person hired through an online job application program, 12 are hired by an internal referral…”
So, by all means spend some time on Indeed and Glassdoor, but then get out there and have a few networking conversations (see Career Coaching: 4 Critical Networking Mistakes). It is these conversations that will ultimately find you a role.
If you need career coaching on the job search/networking process, please click here to schedule time to talk.