rome wasn't built in a day

Have you ever read Moby Dick? I did for school. Was not a fan. Was a little slow for my little attention span. Wish I had the cliff notes. Today, however, I can share with you the cliff notes version of a recent job search event I went to. 

The Advertising Women of NY, or AWNY, is a local, professional association that has brought tremendous value to my life. The association has a career development arm that offered an event this month that focused on digital job searching. [would have been cool if they really took on the digital theme and streamed the event online] 

I saved my job search shekels and $35 later was registered for the two hour event. Half hour was spent networking and an hour listening to a panel talk about online job searching. Pammy Brooks from 24/7 Real Media (moderator), Rochelle Geller from Rochelle Geller Associates, MaryAlice Almendinger from Google, and Virginia Hanchar from Mediacom composed the expert panel. Here's what the ladies had to share about online job searching:

PB - 24/7 Real Media

• LinkeIn is a game changer.

RG - Rochelle Geller Associates

• LinkedIn is a great resource to use when romancing a company.
• Just because LinkedIn is available and convenient is not a reason to present an informal or unprofessional side.
• Right now hiring managers are looking for big picture thinkers and in the weeds workers.
• When delivering the experience of you, consider your intuitive and empathic sense of self. 

VH - Mediacom

• Aim for positively assertive when following up on a job interview. 
• Researching a company gives a candidate competence and confidence. 
• Take the time (or money) to have a complete online profile created to represent you. 
• Don't underestimate your relationships with people. It's like managing an PR campaign for yourself.

MA - Google

• When Google gets a resume, a real person reviews it. 
• Aim to make all your communications powerful and valuable. 
• Don't apply for multiple positions at one company at one time. 
• We use key words to create boolean searches for qualified candidates. 
• Google looks for four things in a candidate: experience, cognitive ability, leadership in your professional or personal life, and "Googliness".
• A candidate will be considered questionable if we see inconsistencies across resumes and online profiles. 

that dog won't hunt

It is no surprise that after moving to NYC for a few years and wanting the company of a gentleman caller, I decided to get onto Match.com. [I have to admit that I was looking forward to moving to an island of lots of men. little did I know it was more like the island from Lord of the Flies!] Sure there was some online flirting, but really the end result? Nothin’. Zip. Zero. I swear those are the same feelings I have about using the major online job sites. 

There’s a listing and you are all oh man, oh man, oh man – this is just what I am looking for! I’ll respond with how well I fit the bill. Either dream job or man of my dreams ends up as the same [sucks to your asmar] disappointment. Too many folks responding for the one job or one dude. No, seriously, think about it. How many people do you know that got the big prize for using a big job site or a big dating site? Honestly, I don’t know anyone who got hitched from Match or employed from Monster. [in my opinion, Monster should have been the name of the dating site – yup, it’s that fun] For those of you who have yet to be disappointed [by dudes – you’re lucky] by job sites - then let me recap where the trail of broken hearts starts.

Monster.com - Hotjobs.com - Careerbuilder.com

I recently got some great insights from a well-versed HR leader who’s been in the biz for many years. Here’s what Jeff Comerford had to say about the big job sites: “Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, Careerbuilder.com, etc. These are your more traditional job boards. Something to keep in mind is that for each of the positions posted, there may be over a hundred responses. If you are going to use these methods, make sure to use a cover letter that explains why you are a match for the position that you are applying to. Showing a link to what they are looking for is a great way to increase your chances of getting an interview.”

Just like Match, Friendster [don’t think we’ve mentioned them yet. sigh, they were my first major SNS] or Monster.com – ya gotta have a profile. Hopefully you did the homework from Get Your Feet Wet and put up a profile of yourself on the big job networks. The three things that I use these massive job sites for is to one, maintain a professional profile so that employers can find me; two, search job listings; and three, buff up on my latest career best practices. 

If you are wondering, I am more a Monster girl over the others. Personally I find CB (CareerBuilder) to be wrought with ads and opportunities for me to upgrade to some paid version of the site. Even the CB site and email communications are heavy on the Google text ads making it difficult and distracting to find job search info. [note to websites that use Google Ad Sense – layout your sites and communications so that users can get to what they want right away! don’t start the page off with ads and bury the content. bad websites. bad, bad, bad!] Both Monster and CB have a ton of job search info, which I find very helpful, as you’ve seen from the links I have shared so far. Kinda like how I take my religion - I use a little bit from everyone. That’s the backbone of this blog.