by: Frank Bilotta
When I got out of college 12 years ago there was only one traditional way of applying for employment. After combing the classified section of the local paper I would form a list of jobs I was interested in applying for. I recall going to the store to purchase good quality paper with matching envelops and mailing each company I was interested in working for a copy of my resume and cover letter. After a trip to the Post Office, my job was done and the waiting game began. In some rare cases a follow up call to a HR representative at the company was in order to make sure that they have received my resume. The entire process was slow, expensive, and very time consuming.
I have been very fortunate being employed for the same company for the past 12 years. I guess I was lucky, but also understand this to be very rare in today's society. With that said, I have been out of the job hunting loop for many years Recently I began to search for a new career. It was time for a change and I needed to start to learn the new way of applying for jobs in this extremely competitive environment.
Today finding employment is very different. I am not even sure if people would still "snail mail" a resume to a potential employer. Today a job seeker uses the power of the Internet to reach potential employers around the world in a fraction of the time.
I spent a few hours updating my decade old resume and began to research online help. I came across companies like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com that offered assistance in posting resumes at no charge. This was a pretty cool experience. I learned that I could search for jobs by type, location, or even salary ranges. This sure beats going line by line in the local paper! This seemed to good to be true. I was sure I would find a job in record time. I was even able to apply for jobs without reading the description by using their "auto reply" feature. I spent a few days posting resumes and then sat back and waited for my phone to ring and for a company to offer me the job of a lifetime.
A few days pasted and I was disappointed by how few phone calls I had received. I guess I had under estimated the poor economic status of the country and how record unemployment rates effects finding a job. When I stopped to think about how many people are applying for the same position that I was interested in I quickly realized that I might have to take the next a step in finding a new job.
A friend of mine told me about additional websites that he felt might help with my search. He sent me an invitation to join his Linked In professional network. This proved to be the best move I had made. Within a few short days I was "linked" to dozens of young professionals that were able to help each other find work through contacts they had made. In this environment I learned that you almost need an "in" or an introduction to find work. I have been on several interviews over the past few weeks. I have not found the right fit for myself yet, but I am confident that opportunity is not far down the road.
I live in rural America and there are very few Internet providers in the town where I live. The use of the high speed Internet was critical in my search for a new career. I was a dial-up customer for years until I signed on with a company called WildBlue. The service is much faster and reliable than the dialup I was using. I was pleasantly surprised that the cost of the service was reasonable and the service has been great. I highly recommend that if you are looking for a new job, get yourself a reliable Internet provider. Chances are the Internet is where you will find your next career opportunity. Don't make the already stressful task of looking for employment worse by doing so with a dialup Internet connection.
No comments:
Post a Comment