Has anybody found a job on Craig’s List?
Here’s a post from a frustrated job seeker on craigslist:
Has anybody found a job on Craig’s List?
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Date: 2008-02-06, 8:27AM EST
Has anyone replied to a job posting and subsequently been contacted by that company? I have replied to approximately 12 jobs in the past four weeks. I haven’t received so much as a bulk “thanks but no thanks” email. Is applying for jobs on Craig’s List a waste of time?
Here’s my response:
It’s no more a waste of time than using the big job boards or the classifieds. It should be a part of your job search strategy, but certainly not the only tool you use.
So you’ve applied to 12 jobs in 4 weeks? That’s only 3 a week. I don’t know how many jobs you’re applying to outside of craigslist, but the first part of a job search is largely a numbers game. The more companies you contact, the more likely you will receive a favorable response. These days, a job search is really a full-time job in and of itself.
One bit of advice is to quickly build your job-search momentum. Apply for as many suitable jobs as you can, and target as many of your ideal companies as possible within a short period of time. This will have multiple benefits to you as a job seeker. You’re more likely to get a number of favorable responses and schedule more interviews in a shorter time frame. This increases the likelihood of you getting multiple job offers, which is a good position to be in. Notice that I did say “suitable” jobs - if they’re a bit of a stretch, that’s a good thing and can show your ambition, but there’s no point in applying for jobs that are obviously out of reach just because you think you can do anything and because it doesn’t cost money to apply via email or the web. There is a time cost, though. This wastes your time and theirs, so read their requirements and take the time to spell out how you meet or exceed their needs.
That’s what the cover letter is for - translating how the experience in your resume can mean real results and a positive return on their investment in you should they hire you.
On that note, always send a cover letter or at least a brief but to-the-point email about why you feel like you would be a good fit for the position and the company. Just sending a resume without a cover letter may get you a few results, but to many it indicates laziness and can also seem like you’re just blasting resumes out to whatever openings you may find, in the desperate hope that something will stick. Whenever I’ve placed job ads, the resumes I receive that have cover letters ALWAYS get more attention than those that don’t. The ones that don’t may get a quick cursory scan, if they even make it to that point without being deleted first.
Back to the benefits of momentum in your job search: You’re also psychologically more motivated since your efforts are getting more results than if you use a trickle approach and just apply for a few jobs a week. This in turn gives you greater confidence, which shines through in your interviews and helps you become a more attractive candidate.
Of course your suitability for the job opportunity, your experience, your resume, cover letter, and how you contact the companies are also major factors in the response you’ll get, but keep this in mind: many HR departments are short-staffed and having to do many tasks, so they just may not have time to promptly send out the form-letter rejections, let alone a personalized letter. When a company posts a position online, they may get hundreds, or even thousands, of resumes within as little as 24 hours. That’s a lot to sort through, and the hiring manager may only have time to contact the first people that make the “short list” of potential candidates that actually meet the posted requirements. When a company is hiring for a position, the first order of business once the ads are posted is to come up with a short list of candidates to contact, usually by phone or email, for an initial screening. So the first part of the process is weeding out all the candidates that don’t quite fit what they are looking for, and coming up with a manageable group of well-qualified candidates. This short list may be just 10-15 people out of the hundreds that have expressed interest in the position. The candidates that make the cut move on to the next step, which is an interview, either via phone or in person.
My book, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves, includes a section specifically about how to find a job through Craigslist. You can get it at www.thegetajobbook.com or www.cafepress.com/get_a_job
I also have a free mini-course on the top 7 resume mistakes on my main site (above)
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.TheGetAJobBook.com
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Hello!I got the most relevant knowledge about job searching is a hard process. But using the internet and job search engines can make life a lot easier in sorting through the massive amounts of jobs listed on the internet. Thanks!