In an ailing economy, a rigorous job search can be can frustrating and intimidating, particularly as some sources state that as many as 85% of available jobs never appear in newspapers or Internet job boards.  While the statistics vary, the truth underlying this certainty has long been known among astute job seekers.  Candidates hoping to expand their opportunities by way of this hidden job market need to identify its most viable points of access.

Every serious candidate is aware of the significance of networking through direct contacts in the business world.  By attrition, however, the swelling ranks of applicants either unemployed or confronting imminent unemployment has diminished the potential openings available via this avenue of traditional career networking.  Consider using different approaches to yield greater results.
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Understanding the critical role of online job sites in a serious employment search, and given the plethora of such sites, the situation begs the question, “Where to post your resume?”

The most obvious answers to “Where to post your resume?” are the giants whose names, as a result of their scope and longevity, are renowned.  These include but are not limited to Monster, Yahoo Hotjobs, and Careerbuilder.  Although it can be time-consuming to post one’s resume on and navigate through these super boards, it is advisable not to avoid them for the reason that employers don’t.  In addition, the super boards boast hundreds of partner sites; careerbuilder, for example, currently enjoys more than 1,100 such partners representing that many more potential opportunities.
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Job seekers today can find themselves in the same predicament as the seven blind men asked to describe the elephant.  Touching the beast’s trunk, the first man exclaimed, “The elephant is shaped like a snake!”  Exploring the elephant’s leg, the second man argued, “No, the animal is like a tree.”  As the lack of consensus continued with the remaining men, not one of them was able to form an accurate picture of the elephant, because each had perceived the animal from his own limited perspective. 
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Consider this true story as told to us by one of our clients who, for the purposes of this article, we will refer to as Karl.  After two years of gainful employment with a major retail organization, highlighted by several sales achievement and customer service awards, Karl felt well prepared for career advancement.  When he broached this topic to upper management, he was told that he would be considered for a promotion when a suitable position opened.  A month later, the floor manager in Karl’s department tendered his resignation.  But when Karl once again approached the division manager, he learned that another employee was chosen to fill the position. Understandably perplexed, Karl asked to know the rationale behind this decision.  “If a customer has a problem and wants to speak with someone in charge,” the manager explained, “what am I supposed to do? Point to you and tell the customer to talk to that short man on the selling floor?”
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“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.  Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee…” 
(John Donne, Meditation 17, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions)

The English poet John Donne expressed this sentiment almost four hundred years ago.  Yet, it seems particularly appropriate today.  Bad economic news abounds across the globe.  And, since domestic business in every nation is dependent upon global markets for significant portions of their revenues, the American sub-prime mortgage crisis has spawned a worldwide economic meltdown of epic proportions.

Recently, in the U.S., CitiBank announced plans to lay off more than 50,000 employees nationwide while senior executives of the three major domestic automobile manufacturers pleaded their cases before Federal legislators, desperate to obtain funding that would enable their corporations to stay afloat.  Added to the unprecedented federal bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, and AIG, these more recent developments indicate that as the “bell tolls” signaling layoffs and unemployment for millions of Americans, it also “tolls” an alarm for the rest of us who are still employed.
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One of the questions that clients frequently ask me is “how can I conduct an effective job search?”  While some of the tools used to conduct a job search today are the same or similar to those used decades ago, much has changed.

At one time, an effective job search entailed simply checking the employment classified section of the area’s Sunday newspapers and responding to advertised openings.  Today, such an approach seems parochial at best and patently ineffective at worst.

Today’s job search, if one is seeking the right position, is akin to a marketing campaign.  If you were planning a product marketing campaign, you would establish a budget and determine the allocation and mix of media you would employ to transmit your marketing message.  The exact nature and content of your message aside, you would consider all the media channels – print, broadcast, Web, outdoor, etc. – and determine how to structure your campaign to optimize its effectiveness within your budgetary constraints.
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