How Internet Job-Hunting Has Become Easier Than Ever

Social Media

Nothing has had a greater impact on job searches than social media. Suddenly, networking is as easy as clicking a button. Facebook has almost a quarter billion users. Twitter has exploded as a communications tool. LinkedIn, deliberately avoiding the flashiness of its counterparts, has still become the professional platform for business connections and focused profiles. Even Craigslist, with its informal and almost leaderless platform, has become a valuable resource for finding jobs both regionally and nationally.

Job Sites

It’s not surprising that the Internet’s crawl into practically every sector of our lives includes the way we look for employment. In 2009, the Newspaper Association of America reported revenues from print classified ads dropped a massive 42.5 percent. Meanwhile, everything from Monster.com to LiveCareer.com have seen at minimum a 33 percent increase in their traffic. It’s a logical ascension. Print ads still require you leave your home, buy newspapers, review them, print a resume and cover letter, snail mail or fax them and proceed to wait (and hope) for a response. Log into LiveCareer and review thousands of job listings that are consistently updated. Potential employers use these sites to reach the largest pool of talent the Internet has to offer.

Candidates gladly utilize them because not only can they review the latest posts from any computer, they can immediately connect with hiring managers. They can do so directly through LiveCareer, submitting resumes with the click of a mouse. This has led to a faster review process. Candidates can hear from hiring managers within hours, as opposed to days and even weeks.

Electronic Job Searching Due Diligence

Of course, the latest technology doesn’t negate one’s personal responsibility. There are still candidates who send out shotgun blasts of their resumes. It’s an old and tired trick. We simply send out a regurgitation of the same resume to hiring managers everywhere and hope one finds the right spot. It is believed for every qualified candidate, hiring managers are looking at a dozen or more resumes that demonstrate the candidate doesn’t even come close to the requirements.

The greatest mistake candidates are making today is assuming the Internet’s accessibility eliminates their end of the “job.” Every candidate should be focused on providing an unique experience for every single position they submit their credentials for. That means carefully reading the list of qualifications and reusing key phrases and statements in both the resume and cover letter. It means making it clear to hiring managers you are interested in the position at their company, not a job in general. Let the Internet make the search easier, but don’t assume it should do all the work.