Developer Career Tip #0030---Finding a high-tech job---Part 1

Developer Career Tips #0030

Finding a high-tech job---Part 1

With the New Year upon us, I thought I would do some research on Job Searching strategies. I wasn't planning on starting with Internet-based Job Searching strategies, but then I came upon an article on ZDNet which cited a higher than expected success rate for job seekers who used the Internet to find a job. According to the article

http://cma.zdnet.com/texis/cma/cma/+kr9e362rxzmwwwhqFq372+XXXW+WvNjbXW8mzmwwwwnzmwwwwpFqrp1xmwBnLFqnhw5B/display.html

just over 40% of job seekers who used the Internet to post their resume or retrieve job listings received interviews as a result. I think that's an outstanding rate of success, and one that surprises me a bit. The article went on to say that it's not only IT workers finding jobs via the Internet, but others job seekers as well. Surprisingly, the highest percentage of job seekers getting interviews is in the Human Resources area---most likely because they know best where to look and post their information on the web.

I'm always skeptical about claims such as this---as the particulars about the job seeker's situations are not noted in the survey. For instance, what were the respondent's years of experience? I've known beginner programmers with no work experience who have posted their resumes on the various search sites who haven't gotten a nibble.

Still, there's no doubt in my mind that finding a job via the Internet is a viable alternative to the more traditional methods of job searching such as scanning classified ads in newspapers or using an employment agency. Companies seeking qualified candidates find it a useful alternative as well.

In Part 2 of this article, I'll list and discuss the popular Job Search Web Sites, along with the pros and cons of posting your resume on a Job Search Site.