As technology has proven critical in enhancing competitiveness, many business entities maintain a presence on the Internet.  While the initial intent of this presence was the growth of name recognition and revenues, companies have discovered that the Internet provides them a cost-effective and productive tool to attract the human capital required to improve their productivity and profitability.  As a member of that talent pool competing with numerous other candidates, you will want to capitalize on your use of the Internet.
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“The Invisible Man” was a novella penned by H.G. Wells in 1897 and popularized to succeeding generations by the classic 1933 motion picture starring Claude Rains as Griffin, a scientist who develops an invisibility theory.  Griffin postulates that by changing a person’s refractive index to that of air, the subject’s body would neither absorb nor reflect light and, thereby, achieve a state of invisibility.  He ultimately uses this process on himself, attains invisibility, cannot return to a visible state, and, as a result, is driven to insanity.

You may be asking yourself, “what does this have to do with my job search?”  At first blush, one might discern no connection between the respective subject matter of the story and that of your job search.  The surprising answer, however, is “more than you can possibly imagine.”
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With age normally come a number of positive personal attributes, among them maturity, stability, life experience, and wisdom.  Yet, for the more seasoned job candidate (and I define more seasoned candidates as 40/50-something or older with 20 or more years of work experience), the process of finding a good job is not simply 2 or 3 times more difficult than for their more youthful, less experienced counterparts, but tens or even hundreds of times more exacting.

I often deal with candidates who have never had any particular difficulty in securing a top position relative to their background and level of experience, but nonetheless seem to hit an obstacle to their job-seeking success in their early to mid 40′s or 50′s.  Speaking with me, they express astonishment that their current search efforts are so far removed from their previous experiences.  They had heard and believed that age discrimination existed, but never considered that it would happen to them.
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From the time of Man’s Fall from grace and innocence, the seeming dichotomy between job and career has been the subject of considerable thought and discussion.  Of course, man – from his prehistoric origins to modern-day – has always been required to engage in activities to sustain his existence and, by fulfillment of his own needs, contribute to the propagation and advancement of civilization.  Presumably, Adam and Eve “worked” at something before they consumed the fruit that made them aware that they were and needed to continue “working.”

Today, virtually all of us need to work – if not to provide us the means to live, then to give us a sense of worth and meaning.  And so, even those classified as “idle rich” require something to occupy their time, minds, and energies; whether that something be gaining a formal education, learning informally via travel or recreation, or volunteering services in support of a charitable endeavor.  In the latter instance, “work” – counter to the common perception – may provide no tangible benefit to the worker.
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Almost every job candidate today has or plans to employ online resources to assist in the job-hunting process.  Many candidates will focus their entire job search on job boards and the careers section of employer Websites.  Whether or not such focus offers a candidate the widest array of opportunities is a discussion for another day.  Nonetheless, most candidates have little or no insight into what happens to their resumes, cover letters, and responses to questions once they have emailed, uploaded, or cut and pasted their information.
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