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Best Way To Find A Job

editor

By editor,
in Houston Area Help Wanted/Jobs Wanted

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What ways have worked most often when you've been looking for a job?  

20 members have voted

  1. 1. What ways have worked most often when you've been looking for a job?

    • Printed Newspaper Job Listings
      0
    • Newspaper Web Site Job Listings
      0
    • Trade Journal
      0
    • Web Site Job Search (Monster, CareerBuilder, etc...)
      3
    • Direct Search At Company Web Sites
      2
    • Word of Mouth
      8
    • Headhunter
      3
    • Other
      4

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ssullivan

ssullivan

Posted
Posted

I've only had one job search in my life before now (before moving to Houston worked in my family's business). I found my current job through a friend who had interned with this company the summer before I joined in January. However, at the end of this month my position is being eliminated due to the small company I work for having almost no business these days. So now I'm using every method I can think of, and praying one of them works quickly!

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20sGirl

20sGirl

Posted
Posted

The best jobs are usually ones you find through friends and colleagues. Cold calling is also sometimes good but stressful if you're not good with people. It's also a good idea to join an association relevant to your field and attend the events. You'll meet people with common interests and who may know of opening positions.

Also, never underestimate the value of a well-worded r

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  • 6 months later...
Hunter

Hunter

Posted
Posted

I recently spent an extended amount of time unemployed. I finally found my current job by word of mouth. I went everywhere and talked to everyone. I even had business cards made up as a sort of Mini-resume. I gave them to everyone. It worked I am now ina wonderful position that i enjoy a lot. now if I can only get my Supervisor to pull the corn cobb out of her @$$ things would be great.

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Trophy Property

Trophy Property

Posted
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When I got out of Grad School (May 2002) I had a hard time getting a job. I actually had the best success with Monster. I think I interviewed with 4 companies that contact me after I sent them a resume. I was officially hired by one of those companies. After 2 years there I wanted to make a change. I used Monster, word of mouth, networked, and even a very expensive carreer service. Ultimately I got a great postion with an incredible firm. I think the carreer service was outstanding albeit extremely expensive.

There is a great website called www.Linkedin.com that really helped me in my search. It is a professional networking site.

I would be happy to discuss some of the methods of my success and failure.

Email me direct at jwm71@swbell.net. BTW, I work in the Real Estate field and have the most experience in that field. If you are looking in that field I might be able to offer sime incite.

Make sure to refernence this site in the email because I get countless junk mail in that account.

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ssullivan

ssullivan

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I just signed my acceptance letter for a great new job. I guess you could say I found it through networking and word of mouth -- a guy in the company I'm joining who actually has the same job I've just accepted saw me in an Internet chat room, saw in my profile under "occupation" where I mentioned I was looking for a job in HR/benefits consulting, and started a conversation with me by saying "What type of consulting job are you looking for?" That was on February 13, and on March 21, after several phone interviews and a quick trip to Rochester NY a week ago, I got offered the job. He's now not only a soon-to-be coworker but a good friend. And never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to meet someone who would help me get my next job that night when I went into that chat room.

I think it's all about being open to the opportunities that are out there, being creative in your search methods, having faith and patience, and letting everyone you come across know what you're looking for. You really never do know when and where you'll find that next opportunity. Use every method at your disposal, but concentrate on talking to people and making sure friends, family, and other acquaintances know what you're looking for. Statistically, over 85% of jobs are found through networking. Use Monster and the other job sites, but keep in mind that over 95% of their members never find a job through those services. You might be lucky -- some, like Trophy Property, do find jobs there. But I'd spend 10% of my time looking online and the other 90% looking in other places, because statistically, that's where you're more likely to find success.

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Lowbrow

Lowbrow

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Contacts are God. In the last 8 years I've held 4 jobs, all in the same market, all for over 50k and never once used a resume. Not that I didnt have one, I mean they have to put something in your file after they hire you. :)

Most of my contacts came from university. Either professors or fellow grad students.

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ssullivan

ssullivan

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Yeah, I have sent very few blind resumes (ones where I hadn't talked to someone first and they specifically asked for it) during the past six months. Probably 85% of the resumes I sent were cases where I had already contacted someone by another means, or they had found me, and then I was asked for a resume.

As for the classifieds, I've noticed that section of the paper is about half the size it used to be. A lot of employers still list stuff there, but it's a much smaller percentage than what there used to be. I remember when the Sunday employment ads were two full sections in the paper. A lot of what's there now is junk, or ads for jobs that for certain reasons have to be advertised in the newspaper (there are a lot in there that are run as part of the immigration/permanent residency (green card) application process for employees being sponsored by their employers -- the job really isn't open but they have to advertise it anyway to satisfy the federal government). But as long as employers keep buying that space in the paper, the Chronicle will gladly keep printing those ads. And I'm sure everyone involved knows that 99% of the time that part of the paper just ends up in the trash (or recycling bin at my house).

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