Traditional Job-Search Tools, Strategies Worthy of Attention

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Technology job
seekers frustrated by the
lack of response they
get from posting their
resumes on Internet job
boards need to rethink
how they are looking for
work, experts say.

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS
SERVICE
The Salt Lake Tribune

"Monster.com and
HotJobs and those job
posting boards are not
invaluable, but they’re
products of a different
time," said Scott
Wilson, president and
chief executive officer of
Dallas-based CABC Inc.
(www.cabc.com), which develops software to send high-quality video and
audio over the Internet.
"They’re products of, ‘I’m a commodity that’s so sought-after and so rare
that just by making myself available, things are going to move very quickly,’
" he said.
Machine-gunning resumes across Internet job boards is unlikely to result
in a response from an employer anymore, said Lawrence Stuenkel, senior
partner of outplacement firm Lawrence & Allen Inc. in South Carolina.
Stuenkel is the author of From Here to There: A Self-Paced Program for
Transition in Employment, (www.fromheretothere.net).
Stuenkel said less than 4 percent of jobs are filled each year through the
Internet, and there currently are about 80 million resumes floating around on
the Web.
"Who has the time to search through those?" he asked. "And if you have
a company Web site, that assumes that the job hunter knows of your
company and, therefore, can access the company’s Web site.
"But 80 percent of Americans work for companies that have less than 100
employees. Those are not household names," he said.
Job seekers remain stubbornly committed to prowling the Web for jobs, a
fault that tech professionals in particular are guilty of, Stuenkel said.
"We’ve worked with a lot of these types of individuals, and they just seem
so loyal to the technology that it’s almost a professional embarrassment to
consider some of the more tried-and-true methods of seeking employment,"
he said.
Instead, Stuenkel said, applicants should keep using the job boards, but
also start glancing through newspaper classified ads, particularly during
weekdays, when many smaller employers take advantage of cheaper
advertising rates.
IT professionals looking for work also need to rethink how they apply for
jobs once they know of an opening, he said.
Sending a paper resume and e-mail resume at the same time may be an
effective way to differentiate themselves.
"If I were an IT professional and I was making $60,000, I’d put a real
focused, get-to-the-point cover letter together with my resume, and I’d send
it to the highest operating officer at that particular company," Stuenkel said.
"Most of my competition is not going to do that. They don’t have the courage
to do that."
Even if the executive simply forwards the resume to human resources,
hiring managers often pay attention to an application that comes through the
boss’ office.
Technology workers also need to be more attentive to what they put on
their resumes because many tech professionals tend to exaggerate their
previous titles or responsibilities, Wilson said.
"Unless it was at an established company where you can have some
assurance that those are good skills learned, then sometimes that can work
against a candidate," he said.

http://www.sltrib.com/04182002/business/729298.htm