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For the most part I agree. I've applied for numerous jobs on Hot Jobs, Monster and various other job sites and have never gotten so much as a call back. However, a few recruiters have found my resume posted on Monster and have contacted me about positions. My take is that with the high rate of unemployment, any good jobs posted on the web immediately get inundated with resumes. The Web has made it easier to apply for jobs, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes qualified candidates get lost in the jumble.

I've never tried any of the sites that charge for their services. I don't really see what they have to offer that Monster doesn't. It surely isn't name recognition.

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One problem with Monster, et.al is that scammers troll it looking for people to contact about get-rich-quick schemes. My wife put her resume on Hot Jobs and we got calls for months from scammers who said they saw her resume there.

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I was in the tech field up here in Chicago and I got my jobs thru computerjobs.com two of them in fact....I left a nice stable tech support job to work for a start up in the late 90s....which was fun but short lived (8 months) - but I did hook up with that job thru that website. And then when I had to look for another...I also found it on computerjobs.com

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I also wanted to suggest that if you find a job on a board like Monster or HotJobs or somthing...go to the corporate website to apply for it. Not only will you find out more about the company should they call...but the company will think you were searching them out separate from any job board.

that was a suggestion from the HR manager at my last job.....

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I was in the tech field up here in Chicago and I got my jobs thru computerjobs.com  two of them in fact....I left a nice stable tech support job to work for a start up in the late 90s....which was fun but short lived (8 months) - but I did hook up with that job thru that website.  And then when I had to look for another...I also found it on computerjobs.com

I think that's the biggest career lesson I've learned over the years -- Take chances. Every time I've gone (like you did) from a stable job to something new and dangerous, it's paid off.

It's a lesson I learned the hard way -- when I was a sophomore in college (comp-sci major at the time) a friend of mine told me he was dropping out to join a new computer company in Buffalo. He begged me to go with him. Told me it would be a blast. I said, "no" and that I was going to stay the course and get my degree. A year after graduation I go to visit him and he's living on the 43rd floor of a high-rise in Toronto making $200,000 American and I was living in a basement apartment in West Virginia making $15,000.

Ever since, I've always tried to take chances, and for the most part, the chances I've taken have paid off.

Your Mileage May Vary.

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I have to agree with you on that one.

It's just a matter of self confidence and willing to stray off the path. Sometimes you get get a gold mine, sometimes you step on an explosive mine. But you never know until it pays off.

Every job change I've done has been a totally good thing.

Ricco

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  • 11 months later...
I think that's the biggest career lesson I've learned over the years -- Take chances.  Every time I've gone (like you did) from a stable job to something new and dangerous, it's paid off.

It's a lesson I learned the hard way -- when I was a sophomore in college (comp-sci major at the time) a friend of mine told me he was dropping out to join a new computer company in Buffalo.  He begged me to go with him.  Told me it would be a blast.  I said, "no" and that I was going to stay the course and get my degree.  A year after graduation I go to visit him and he's living on the 43rd floor of a high-rise in Toronto making $200,000 American and I was living in a basement apartment in West Virginia making $15,000. 

Ever since, I've always tried to take chances, and for the most part, the chances I've taken have paid off.

Your Mileage May Vary.

In the long run, you're better off getting your degree. It's a sad fact of business but there is a glass ceiling for people that don't have college degrees. There are exceptions, yes. Everybody has a brother-in-law who "is the president of his company with a high school diploma." Most times, however, companies will pass over talented individuals with out degrees for those that do. It's not fair but that's life.

Many's the dot-commer who quit college and now lives with his folks...

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I have had success with HoustonEmployment.com. They do not use 3rd party companies such as monster and hotjobs. I am in the IT industry and get a lot of replies from Monster and HotJobs, but they are mainly headhunters (staffing companies). I believe the headhunters only want to add to their collection of resumes.

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The Web has made it easier to apply for jobs..

I agree. Hotjobs, Monster, Houston Chronicle.. I went the same route as you did Editor. It took me banging on doors and pleading with people to give me a chance to get where I am today however. Couple that with complete luck, and sometimes I have to look around and wonder how I b.s.'d my way into my job - and how I've still got all my bosses fooled!

BTW Editor - what exactly is it that you do? I know you run these websites. I thought you were perhaps a journalist - but I think you denied that rumor in a Katrina thread. Also, I hate to pry, but do you travel to all these countries you mention for business or pleasure? Either way I'm envious!

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I am in the IT industry and get a lot of replies from Monster and HotJobs, but they are mainly headhunters (staffing companies).  I believe the headhunters only want to add to their collection of resumes.

i found the same thing - monster and the like may produce more hits, but most are for generic positions from staffing companies.

the best way i have found is to go to the websites of places you would want to work, and they might have postings online, as well as applications. at least that way, you're picking where you go, and not the other way around...

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think it depends a lot on what type of work you're looking for. Some professions are always listed on those websites and lots of people get hired off those sites for those jobs. Others you'll never see on there. Personally, I am a big believer that the best jobs are never highly advertised. And, just applying online is a crapshoot. It really takes knowing someone who can introduce you to the right person. The biggest challenge in job searching is just getting serious consideration and a real interview or meeting scheduled. Once you've done that, more than half the battle is won.

It took me two years of looking off and on, plus six months of unemployment and heavy duty searching and networking, plus blind luck to land me the job I have now. And I was so lucky to get it -- it was a very random thing that happened that caused me to meet someone who is now a friend and coworker, and he was the one that got me under serious consideration by the right people.

All Monster and Hot Jobs and the other big job websites got me was junk mail and offers to interview for a few lousy jobs that were not right for me at all.

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  • 2 weeks later...
no. they are all pretty much useless.

i thought it was just me.

I think it depends a lot on what type of work you're looking for. Some professions are always listed on those websites and lots of people get hired off those sites for those jobs. Others you'll never see on there. Personally, I am a big believer that the best jobs are never highly advertised. And, just applying online is a crapshoot. It really takes knowing someone who can introduce you to the right person. The biggest challenge in job searching is just getting serious consideration and a real interview or meeting scheduled. Once you've done that, more than half the battle is won.

It took me two years of looking off and on, plus six months of unemployment and heavy duty searching and networking, plus blind luck to land me the job I have now. And I was so lucky to get it -- it was a very random thing that happened that caused me to meet someone who is now a friend and coworker, and he was the one that got me under serious consideration by the right people.

All Monster and Hot Jobs and the other big job websites got me was junk mail and offers to interview for a few lousy jobs that were not right for me at all.

steven i am going on 2 years two. luckily i have a part time gig and a side business (photography), but i am feeling that i want to work again in a job that is (as you put it) 'right for me'. those never seem to be advertised on monster or the yahoo dealie. in fact, i never even get real nibbles from them.

hope boston (right?) is working out well for you!

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Actually Bruce I still live in Houston, when I'm home (which isn't much these days). My company is based in the Philadelphia area but I'm a 100% remote employee, meaning I rarely work on site at one of our locations. My official office is my home (you could say that my living room is the Houston branch of SunGard SCT's Banner HR consulting practice) and I work most of the time during the week at client sites. I could choose to live virtually anywhere in the Continental US or Canada that I want but for now I remain a Houstonian. But to be honest I am considering possibly relocating to another area of the country in a year or two. I'm still young, single, and finally have my career in a place where such a move would be more possible than it has been in the past. And you only live once, right?

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Actually Bruce I still live in Houston, when I'm home (which isn't much these days). My company is based in the Philadelphia area but I'm a 100% remote employee, meaning I rarely work on site at one of our locations. My official office is my home (you could say that my living room is the Houston branch of SunGard SCT's Banner HR consulting practice) and I work most of the time during the week at client sites. I could choose to live virtually anywhere in the Continental US or Canada that I want but for now I remain a Houstonian. But to be honest I am considering possibly relocating to another area of the country in a year or two. I'm still young, single, and finally have my career in a place where such a move would be more possible than it has been in the past. And you only live once, right?

...at least that what they say. well, i wish you the greatest success whether here or someplace else.

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