Author: Lavie Margolin, Career Coach
People often wonder if you can actually get a job from an internet job posting. The answer is a resounding yes! “I heard you can’t get jobs on the internet so I stopped looking” is something I hear every once in awhile. The Internet is one resource in your bag of tricks. If you only use the major job boards without targeting your resume and cover letter, your response rate with be low. If you carefully evaluate each job before applying, target all information and expand your resources beyond the major job boards to industry specific job sites and company websites, the Internet can be a very valuable resource. Since this is sales, a one in ten positive response leading to an interview is success.
Indeed.com is a resource for job sourcing. I like to refer to it as the ‘Google’ for jobs. You can search for jobs by company name, job title or keyword. Once you find the type of jobs you are looking for, have the results emailed to you. Indeed.com: This is a search engine for the job search. You can type on “What” (Job Title, Company name, specific keyword ex: eating disorder”) and “Where” (location) It will search the internet from those keywords and give you back listings on company websites, job boards, online newspapers, etc. There is no registration required to sign up. If you would like to save time later and set up search results to be sent to your inbox, you can sign up using the: Create a my.indeed account section.
LinkedIn: This is a great site for determining who you know (or who they know) that works in the places you would like to work. Add anyone that you would feel comfortable linking to professionally. By having someone vouch for you, it will give you a much stronger chance of getting a call back. I’ll give you an example. If I wanted to work at Smith Medical Center. I would search “Smith Medical Center” under “people” and see who came up: I would get X results including some people who worked there that I knew and some people that are friends of people I know. I could then inquire if they know people in the XYZ dept. and if they can forward my resume or ask the manager on my behalf.
Tying it together: By combining LinkedIn with Indeed.com, you can have real success. Find out what job openings are available using Indeed.com as your first stop (can apply through whatever means they ask for) and then see who you know that may vouch on your behalf and alert the manager that you are interested in this position.
About the Author: Lavie Margolin is a New York-based Career Coach and the author of Lion Cub Job Search: Practical Job Search Assistance for Practical Job Seekers. To learn more, go to Lavie’s website, Lion Cub Job Search:www.Lioncubjobsearch.com