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My Dh has been looking for a new job for months. He got one job offer and one job interview through people that he knows. He took the job offer because he needed something, but wants something better.
He says applying online is a waste of time because you need to know someone to get a job these days. Do you agree?
Yes and no. If you are not highly skilled, yes. If you are, no. This is going to be an IT example.
For example. Say I have a masters in software engineering. I took advantage of internships at intel, microchip, and freescale. I get a good paying job and live the rest of my life. Say I get lots of certificates and don't mind moving for a job, they see I have a year of experience working for a contracting firm. I get a job that pays well. Here I rely on myself to move up.
or
Say I have no experience,certifications, or anything. I work at the front desk and want to get into IT. They see my customer service skills and network with the service desk boss frequently. I get into a service desk job and work there. I get in good with a couple of the managers in the next department I want to work for and they decide to give me training and hire me for the job. But with this path I have to absolutely be on my best behavior and be almost fake to move up. Here I rely on other people for my success.
My Dh has been looking for a new job for months. He got one job offer and one job interview through people that he knows. He took the job offer because he needed something, but wants something better.
He says applying online is a waste of time because you need to know someone to get a job these days. Do you agree?
I think it helps but many of people get jobs without knowing someone. I had a relative refer me to someone she knew so she could help me get a job and all the job leads she sent me were things that did not match my background.
But it was a time where my Aunt knew someone and referred me to him which lead to a job
My Dh has been looking for a new job for months. He got one job offer and one job interview through people that he knows. He took the job offer because he needed something, but wants something better.
He says applying online is a waste of time because you need to know someone to get a job these days. Do you agree?
I think knowing the right people is 80-90% of finding a new job. I spend more than a decent amount of time getting to know different people in different companies/industries, and I am asked out of the blue if I want to interview about 3-4 times per year, and have been consistently for a few years now. Get to know people, and volunteer to help as many people as possible without asking for anything in return. Reciprocity between casual friends is a very powerful tool.
There is a very interesting article that was published a while ago on this. It is worth reading if you can find a copy. From an article on the paper:
"In 1973, a John Hopkins sociologist, Mark Granovetter, published a paper called “The Strength of Weak Ties†in the American Journal of Sociology. In this classic paper, Granovetter argues that innovation often travels most effectively via weak connections. You are likely to already be familiar with the work and ideas of your immediate colleagues and friends, for example. But a colleague that you communicate with only occasionally—say at an annual conference—is more likely to be a source of novel information. Moreover, that distant colleague is going to be more effective at spreading your novel ideas because your close colleagues and friends likely know many of the same people as you do, whereas the distant colleague likely has a very different group of people in his/her professional and social networks."
You can also say that coming up with the right job search strategies can also find you a job 80-90% of the time.
You can also say that coming up with the right job search strategies can also find you a job 80-90% of the time.
My personal strategy of job searching is passive. I network continually, even when I am not looking for a job, and that has led me to a point where I get offers for interviews without asking for them.
Maybe not everyone wants to do that, but it works for me.
I was friends with the admin assistant of the branch manager. He got me a job paying 50 cents more in a new industry with no experience. I got a response from a careerbuilder ad for $25k more than my "who you know" job. I didn't know a soul at this new company.
If you only know poor people with cheap bosses, then you will get crappy jobs with your poor friends. If you want to make more money than your poor friends, then you have to get a job at positions and companies that your friends can't get.
I can always go back to that old job, if I really really want it. I hated it though. haha
I have since increased my salary by 3.5 times through companies, where "who you know" was nobody. I make more money than my friends.
As far as online applications go, Careerbuilder, Monster, and any company site that uses the Taleo system is useless. Your best bet is to find the e-mail address of an HR person who works for the company and contact her.
What about all of the companies that are unidentified, with only industry listed? Would that make the system less "useless" because the HR people won't be getting as many directly targeted resumes emailed?
What about all of the companies that are unidentified, with only industry listed? Would that make the system less "useless" because the HR people won't be getting as many directly targeted resumes emailed?
And why, exactly, is it useless?
Because it's a 5% chance of getting contacted when you complete a online application. when you contact someone by email then it's a 50% chance of getting a call back.
My Dh has been looking for a new job for months. He got one job offer and one job interview through people that he knows. He took the job offer because he needed something, but wants something better.
He says applying online is a waste of time because you need to know someone to get a job these days. Do you agree?
A few days ago, you were landed a new job. I am assuming that you got it from "who you know". Can't you get him job through the same contact?
I have been at my current job for 7 years but I transferred into a new department in July of this year. However I've been offered a wonderful opportunity with another company. The offer had actually been in the works since around the time I started with my new department.
I have never resigned from a job before (this is the first and only job I've ever had also) and am nervous to break the news to my boss. My boss had a full calendar of things for me to do including travel in the upcoming weeks. And our office is short staffed.
I just want to make a graceful exit. Any advice?
Last edited by move4ward; 12-08-2012 at 06:24 AM..
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