The current job market is tough. It doesn’t matter what the newspapers and televisions claim, anyone who is looking for work knows how hard it is. Paid pundits and talking heads have no clue about the actual job market.
When you hear analysts claim that “new jobs” were created…remember that most of these jobs were temporary labor jobs or jobs in the medical field for nurses and other medical professionals (often times filled by nurse working per diem or second jobs).
Those workers who are not in the medical field, or who want to not work grueling temporary labor jobs must search out the jobs themselves.
Companies are clear in telling every newspaper journalist who will listen (and print) that they can’t find employees. Of course, they are not telling journalists that they also want to pay below minimum wage and expect people to work virtually endless hours.
There are jobs out there, but it’s becoming harder and harder to find them. With companies outsourcing work overseas, many administrative roles are drying up. The customer support roles that one used to be able to find are almost all now outsourced. Likewise, companies are outsourcing more and more administrative and clerical roles to labor markets in the Philippines and India where they can pay wages which would be illegal in the United States.
Indeed, Craigslist, and Zip Recruiter
Obviously if you are going to apply for jobs online then you’re going to come across the big job posting sites. The main players in the space are Indeed, Craigslist, and to a lesser extent Zip Recruiter.
These sites dominate the landscape. That’s either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you ask.
Indeed costs more than Craigslist, so you are less likely to run into scams and fake jobs on Indeed.
When you use Craigslist, you do need to proceed with caution.
I suggest using all sources at your fingertips when searching for a job, and these job posting sites are all big players so you will have to use them.
These sites don’t cos you anything, to be clear. The cost is on the side of the person posting the job.
So, it doesn’t cost you anything to apply for a job. In that respect, the online job posting sites are all amazing and a great source for you to utilize.
What I would suggest is that you only apply for jobs that you’re qualified for. If the role is something that you really are not qualified for, then don’t apply. You’re not going to trick someone into hiring you and you won’t be able to trick them into keeping you.
In fact, applying to a job which you’re not qualified for can hurt your chances later on. If a hiring manager sees that you applied for a job which you are obviously not qualified for, they will mark you as someone who should not be dealt with and mark you as a Do Not Call.
Go Old Fashioned: Use the Newspapers
Just because most people use the online job postings, it doesn’t mean that you should neglect newspapers. There are plenty of people who still use the newspaper to find work. In fact, if you are local and living in a small city or town, then newspapers are an excellent resource.
Many small businesses that are local prefer to keep their hiring efforts local. This means that if there is a local newspaper that they do business with –such as place advertisements—then they very well may want to place a job posting in the classifieds.
This is especially true of smaller businesses. These businesses are not keen on using huge online databases. The truth is that a small business is more likely to use
Ask Around: Use Your Social Network
The old fashioned way of finding work is to ask around. It’s called networking. Before social networking, people networked the old fashioned way. They spoke to friends and family. These people were able to give you jobs. And they will often give you a job that hasn’t even been advertised.
The old saying is it’s not what you know, it’s who you know is very appliable here. The way networking works is that someone you know helps you out by giving you a heads up about a job at their company.
The benefit to this is approach is that you’ll often get a job that other people aren’t even aware of.
Many jobs that do not require very specific skills often are filled by this method. If a job is relatively easy, and doesn’t require a specific skill set or is not high performance, then there are endless people who are qualified.
For instance, a basic administrative assistant role in a large company is not a job that requires a very impressive resume. These roles are often filled by people who are friends or family of other people who work at the company already.
Just to give you an idea, most non-profits post job postings on their career page for administrative in order to give the appearance of an open hiring process. However, any staffing agency that deals with non-profits knows that these are not real jobs. The full time employees of the non-profit will always refer a family member for a full time opening. The jobs posted on their site are only for public appearances.
There can be a downside to finding work through a friend, as covered in this Boston article where it discuss the problem of nepotism in the workplace.
Big Company? Apply To Their Career Page
If you are looking to work at a large corporation, then your best shot is to find the career page on the company website.
Many companies will post the job openings on their career pages. This goes for all jobs, be they entry level jobs at a big box store like Home Depot, or if you’re looking for an accounts receivable role at a major tech firm.
The only kind of roles that are not often posted on the companies career page is going to the C-level jobs. These jobs tend to be handled by recruiters or special headhunters. Oftentimes the firm will outsource these job roles because they require so much effort and interviewing.
Simple roles that are commonly advertised on career pages (entry level admin roles, office management, and back office roles) are going to be handled on the company career page.
These career pages often link out to something like Greenhouse or another third party career ATS system. Some will handle their own internal recruiting, but many do utilzie a third party venor.
It’s worth it to send over a resume to these career pages. While most of the time the resumes are never read due to the sheer number of applicants, this is the method that many people succesfuly find their jobs.
Hey I’m Chris . 20+ years in the industry. I’ve worked every role from Executive recrutier to Agency founder and consultant. If you want to learn more or reach me,vist the about page or use my contact form.