Anyone ever use Jobs By Fax? (Knoxville, Petersburg: sales, real estate, lenders)

[lefty514]

I'm trying to relocate to Knoxville or Nashville before I get laid off by my employer, Countrywide, after the buyout by Bank of America. There is an internet job-hunting service that I fould called Jobs by Fax. For a fee, they will fax a copy of your resume directly to hundreds of employers/managers within a designated industry/geographic area with you deciding the size of the businesses to target, the location, etc.

Just wondering if anyone has heard of this company, used it themselves or know of anyone who has.

[NJDevil]

What is the fee? When I was heavy-duty searching for a job, utilizing various websites, I never heard of that one (I was not against paying for assistance either). My personal opinion is that this company cannot help you. I do not understand what they are doing that you can't do yourself for free. The key is to make yourself stand out from the hundreds of others applying for the same job you want. You're better off paying for resume help (like 1-Day Resume in Knoxville).

[lefty514]

The whole idea of this service is to fax your resume to hundreds of managers within an industry. They get the numbers through purchasing data bases. It would obviously be impossible for a person to obtain hundreds of fax numbers, then sit and fax a resume hundreds of times, unless you have some type of fax system on your computer. Obtaining all the fax numbers is what would stop you from doing this yourself.

Anyway, you can read about it for yourself on their site. I was just wondering if anyone had used them, especially in attempting to obtain interviews or contacts when trying to relocate from another state.

[NJDevil]

I don't see how they are going to locate hundreds of companies in one field in only 2 towns. I told you what the key is, in this job market,Moderator cut: unnecessary comment

[mbmouse]

If I were going to pay a fee to have someone help me find a job, I am not sure I would go that route for one reason. I NEVER read unsolicited faxes. Can't tell you how many I have thrown away from CW, BofA, Silver Hill etc. Now a days paper is to easy to be thrown in the trash. Digital (emails etc) can be saved easier and re read when that info is needed.
My suggestion to you would be to find a good employment agency or head hunter in the field and then the fee is used for more productive, pin pointed (to those actually hiring!) and less scattered process.
The other thought I have here is there are a whole lot of folks in your position now looking for the same jobs and not near as many lenders who are hiring. Sit down with that employment agency/head hunter and find out what skills you obtained while at CW can be utilized in another field.
Just some of my rambling thoughts.

[lefty514]

mbmouse..Excellent suggestions, thanks. My only problem is that I live in St. Petersburg and I'm trying to relocate. I'm finding out (as have many others) that companies won't respond to someone who lives in another area. I guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way..get on the phone and set up some interviews, then make a road trip.

[positiveoutlook]

JobsByFax is a huge waste of money. Anyone can get a good BBB rating. You are foolish to rely on that alone. I spent $270 for my targeted industries for 2,370 faxes. Once it was done, I say that the list of faxes sent had alot of repetition. I never received a call for an interview. They use the same name of a person as a recipient for every company. I received a total of 5 calls indicating that there was no one by that name at their company.

I sent 2 emails to management, specifically asking for a response, about why I had not received one interview call. Its been almost 2 months and no one has had the courtesy of responding back.

What good is the guarantee of charging you only half the cost the next time around if after $270 there was not even one call. I called that a scam to keep spending money.

The only money that has been well worth spent is having a profesional resume done, even at the cost of $695 along with a cover letter to go with it. I have received calls for interviews because of the resume, but I had that done prior to using JobsByFax. They are simply preying on the unemployed as they are desparate to get a job.

This will eventually catch up with them.

DO NOT USE JOBSBYFAX unless you are in the business of throwing your hard earned money away.

[textaddict]

postiveoutlook- have you tried to call them? I would... I looked at their website and found the number 800-309-9188. Email can be tricky with all the nonsense spam blockers out there.

[kingrho]

I used jobs by fax in 2006 when I graduated from college. I was living in Birmingham at the time and looking for jobs in Atlanta. I believe that I sent out resumes to about 1000 companies...there was a lot of filler on the list but I did get about 20 calls and/or e-mails about jobs...I think that it was worth the money and I would do it again.

[William Sold]

Lefty,

As mbmouse said, there's a lot of people right now shuffling around in this industry. My initial thought (after being a corporate manager for years before real estate and weeding through 100's of resumes), is that making yourself standout is the key, as mentioned by NJDevil. Sure, there is a lot of competition, but one thing that speaks for itself is numbers and results. If you've got a lot of experience and a proven track record of bringing in deals, get your name directly to the decision makers, and as soon as possible. They've got a lot of resumes coming in. If you've closed $500,00/month, $1,000,000/month, or more, focus on that consistency. If you don't have a professional resume, get one. I feel this would be better spent money than mass fax campaigns. Detail your proven sales record, average closes per month, ability to adapt, willingness to market realtors, and some good references. I would seek out the top 15 or so lenders, and really focus on getting the right information into the right hands. Countrywide obviously had a lot of clout before, and people will know you come from a structured environment. My advice, drop the jobsbyfax, get a detailed, results driven, in depth profesional resume, and track down contact numbers for some good local lenders, brokers, and banks. Include a cover letter, and personalize each one to a specific contact name and company(I always HATED to whom it may concern). We hired 10 times as many people that actually sought us out as opposed to those that relied on us to contact them. We wanted someone that was calling us for an appointment, not sitting and waiting for us to call them. As I mentioned, it is a flooded market, but lenders are hiring, especially with the high volume of refi's. Money never lies, so if you've got the ability and experience in doing some good bsuiness get them on the phone and let them know why you should be hired. People take personal initiative over blanket job searching much more seriously. Lastly, what was your sepecialty? Refi's, purchases, realtor relationships, builder relationships, commercial? Let them know!! Best of luck.....my two cents....

Oh yeah, and be willing to look at different pay options, be it draw comission, comission based, salary plus, whatever the case.