Today’s job search can be dramatically impacted by the way you use the Internet.
One simple strategy can make a huge difference. First, let’s differentiate between the ineffective and effective strategies.
The Ineffective strategy
Many job seekers default to watching job boards, applying online and wait to be called for an interview. This strategy is ineffective and downright depressing for job search morale and a sense of positive momentum. You can apply on most job boards for positions that seem similar to your skills but never receive an employer response. Job boards are a good place to camp out if you’re searching for a specific sales position with a company experiencing constant turnover. Otherwise, job boards are like trying to drive a car in neutral. You’re not going to get anywhere fast.
Why would an employer pay for a posted opening and get inundated with hundreds of resumes to spend countless hours trying to parse out the viable candidates to interview?
The effective strategy
Watch aggregators, connect to people who work for companies with the posted opportunities on the aggregator and get your resume in the right hands.
Aggregators are websites generating revenue from advertising rather than employers paying to post the opening on their site. Aggregators scan millions of pages for keywords and update a constantly changing mix of links matching their keyword search. The aggregators may display website links of small businesses who never paid to post the opening, but was caught in the net of an aggregator’s keyword hunt. In addition to company webpages, aggregators pull from newspapers, articles, journals and a plethora of other resources.
How to use an aggregator to gain momentum
Use aggregators to learn about emerging and growing companies.
Be targeted when using the aggregator by narrowing your search with keywords of job titles or professional designations. Use a specific zip code for geographic location openings.
In the next post, I will go more in detail about how an aggregator can give you great insight to target an employer who needs your skills for their gap.
For now, the aggregators I use daily include to two most popular:
What aggregators do you use?