Career / Job posting websites?

[lilpup]

Has anyone ever been successful using the major career posting websites, e.g. Michigan Works, Careerbuilder, Monster, etc. or are they a waste of time?

[spaceman_spiff]

I got a contract-basis legal job through craigslist, not the best work, but it pays the bills while I'm looking for something better.

[Patrick]

Indeed.com is the best, but most of these sites arent worth it when you have 500 others going for that same job.

[Bobl]

Michigan Talent Bank worked for me last fall. Unfortunately, that job lasted only a few months! Still looking.

[Jimaz]

I was sternly warned to avoid monster.com because they'd deluge me with offers for which I'd be overqualified. Does anyone have any opinions about Dice.com?

[DetroitDad]

Career Builder and Detroit.employmentguide.com seem to be nothing but ads for college advancements. If I have no job how the Hell can I pay for more schooling? I'd love to go back to school, so those ads are just a slap in the face.

[CornBot]

Two weeks ago, out of the blue, my husband rec'd an e-mail from a local corporation. They'd found resume on the Michigan Talent Bank; would he be interested in talking to them about a job? Short story made shorter, he called, set up first interview for Monday, had 2nd interview on Friday, accepted the position the following Wednesday. He starts full-time June 1. I am happier than a bee in a petunia patch that his new employer is not automotive-related or otherwise dependent on oil [[meaning plastics). Both those employment avenues have dead-ended on him in recent history, so hoping this one proves more stable and sustainable.

My husband has been unemployed since last December, with no nibbles on anything he's sent out or applied for. His resume was on multiple job-search sites, yet it was the MTB that came through for him. And not even on a job he'd applied for through it!

DetroitDad, I'm with you re the school stuff. I can barely meet my everyday obligations as it is, with my spouse unable to maintain a steady income, plus my youngest is getting ready to start high school. Just how do average people swing "going back to school?" If I had finished college 30+ years ago, I would have a degree in something really useless in today's world, like Keypunch. Instead, I have 30+ years of progressively more significant responsibilities, which apparently doesn't count anymore.

[DetroitDad]

Good to hear it worked out for you guys CornBot, it gave me a little more hope in these rough times. Unfortunately, I have yet to have a call back from anything on these sites.

God, I've even been trying to put in aps for the lowest entry level jobs. It's not that I'm not qualified, it's just that I'm not the best of a massive pool of options. I'm being told by several people that most of our Downtown retailers and restaurants are getting an average of ten inquiries a day, while many suburbs are more around five to eight per day. I tried to fill out an application at Meijer, Walmart, and Home Depot at the computer kiosks, each time I had to wait in line from thirty minutes all the way to a couple of hours.

Now we are getting into this Summer, which means college and high school job seekers. We're also about to get huge layoffs from auto makers and suppliers, that means more people who are older and more qualified than I. It seems that people who fill out applications all day as if it were their job can expect to find a job within six months to one year. Unfortunately, that is really going to be pushing it for me. If I'm still here by the end of June, it would be a miracle.

[WonderWoman]

I have used indeed.com at onetime. Lot's of opportunities.

[DetroitDad]

Thank you WonderWoman! I just filled out several applications for jobs I am actually qualified for that I hadn't seen anywhere else.

[Bobl]

So, what is the best way to copy and paste a resume in a Word 2007 document on to an email, without losing the format?
[[Not using an attachment)

[CornBot]

So, what is the best way to copy and paste a resume in a Word 2007 document on to an email, without losing the format?
[[Not using an attachment)

I suspect this depends on what e-mail program you are using. My [[admittedly limited) experience-based thought: In an e-mail app like Outlook, I think you can paste a Word doc into an e-mail without any loss of formatting, especially if your Word 2007 doc was saved to be compatible with older Word versions. To assure preservation of all formatting, you might be better off saving your document as a .pdf, then pasting it into an e-mail. This IMO would be what to do if you don't know what software your recipient has; or if you are using an e-mail program like Yahoo that does not have extensive word-processing capabilities.

Don't know if I've helped... hope so.

[Bobl]

CornBot:

Thanks, your information helped. I have been using Yahoo email. Tried saving the document as a .pdf file, pasted it to email and sent it to myself. Formatting was not saved, but now I know that Yahoo Email does not have extensive word processing capabilities, thanks to your post.

Will try Outlook or Windows....

[DetroitDad]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/03/news...ion=2009060509

Keep the Job Search Blues at Bay

NEW YORK [[Fortune) -- Dear Annie: I am worried about my husband of 19 years, who had a successful career in manufacturing project management until this recession hit. He lost his most recent job almost ten months ago, and at first he was doing a lot of networking, applying for jobs online, and even getting a few interviews, none of which panned out.

But lately, he seems to have given up. He hasn't met with anyone in his network for weeks now, he isn't applying for anything, and he mostly just hangs around the house or goes to the movies. I want to encourage him to get back out there and keep trying, but I don't know what to say that won't sound like criticism, which he doesn't need right now. Do you or your readers have any suggestions for us? -Midwestern Mama

Dear MM: Cold comfort though it undoubtedly is, your husband is far from alone. The number of "discouraged workers" -- those who have not actively looked for work in the past four weeks, primarily because they believe no jobs are available for them -- shot up 70%, to about 717,000, between the first three months of 2008 and the first quarter of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"We speak with plenty of people who say they aren't job hunting right now because they're waiting for the economy to pick up in 2010," says Gladys Stone, a partner in San Francisco-based coaching firm Whelan Stone. "But there is hiring going on, and the people who are getting hired are the ones who are out there trying the hardest, without stopping."

Adds partner Fred Whelan: "To a great extent, it's a numbers game. If you're in touch with enough people and you make enough contacts and pursue enough opportunities, the odds are that something will click. Whatever your husband did to land those interviews he did get was clearly the right stuff -- he just needs to do more of it."

Of course, nobody is saying that it's easy to keep on keeping on when nothing seems to be working out. "Discouragement is normal in these circumstances," says Stone. "But when you come right down to it, it's just a mood. You can push past it. And as a project manager, your husband has faced difficult challenges before. Encourage him to think of this job hunt as just one more tough project."

To give people a blueprint for achieving work objectives, Whelan and Stone have written a useful book called Goal!: Your 30-Day Game Plan for Business and Career Success [[Quill Driver Books, $14.95). A one-day-at-a-time workbook for crystallizing short-term steps toward long-term goals, and recording each day's progress, the book could be a huge help to anyone who is struggling with what to do next.

"When job hunters tell us, 'I've tried everything I can think of, and nothing is working,' we always suggest they make a detailed plan of action for themselves and then stick to it," says Stone. In a recent conversation, Stone and Whelan offered these tips for the discouraged:

Contact three prospective employers each day. Every day, research three companies that interest you. Then, send an e-mail to the person in charge of your area at those firms -- the CFO if you're in finance, the head of marketing if you're in marketing, and so on -- introducing yourself and briefly explaining how your skills could be of value.

"Bypass human resources and go straight to the boss," says Stone. "That person may be making changes and filling openings that HR doesn't know about."

0:00 /00:48Targeting your next job
Once you've been doing that a while, add one more step: Follow up, every day, with three companies you contacted the week before.

"Put in an eight-hour day, every day," says Whelan. "For now, this is your job."

Meet with one person in your network daily. "Networking often makes people uncomfortable, but it's really the only way to find out what's going on," notes Whelan. "So meet with someone in person every day, even if it's just to stop by their office for a brief chat or to grab a quick cup of coffee somewhere. Remember, you aren't asking for a job, you're just trading information."

In-person meetings have two advantages over online or phone chats, notes Stone. First, "people will often tell you useful things in a face-to-face conversation that they wouldn't say in an e-mail or on the phone." And second, in-person meetings get you out of the house and can have an energizing effect. "If you go downtown and set up your laptop at a Starbucks, rather than researching employers online from home, you're out there seeing people. You might run into an acquaintance on the commuter train, for example," says Stone. "Just getting out and about helps you to feel connected" -- a powerful antidote to discouragement.

If you perform those tasks each and every day, not just a couple of times a week or every now and then, you vastly increase your chances of finding the right opportunity.

Cultivate your connections. One way to reach lots of people who might be interested in you and your skills, says Stone, is to use the Q & A feature on LinkedIn to answer questions in your area of expertise. "Helping someone you don't even know yet really makes you visible," she says. "Then follow through and maintain contact with the people whose questions you've answered, to see how your advice worked out." Stone and Whelan know successful job seekers who got their new jobs by answering as many as 200 LinkedIn questions a month. You don't have to take that approach, but try helping others in need, whether on LinkedIn or elsewhere. You might be surprised at the results.

Be accountable to someone. As an added incentive to keep putting in those eight-hour days, says Whelan, "you need someone you'll report to at the end of each week, who is interested in your progress."

It should be someone trustworthy whose opinion you value, whether that's a spouse or significant other, a friend, or a job search group at a local church or community center.

"It can be really helpful to share what you've accomplished each week with someone who's a confidant and a cheerleader, and who can keep reminding you that you do have valuable skills to offer and that it's not hopeless," says Stone. "If all else fails, think about hiring a coach. Even Tiger Woods has a swing coach."

Keep your eye on the prize. Keep picturing your goal -- a great new job -- in your mind's eye. There is truth in that corny New Age saying, "If you can see it, you can be it."

"The subconscious mind is a powerful thing," says Stone. "It accepts what you tell it. If you plant thoughts and images of success in your mind, your brain will find ways to make success happen" -- as long as you're helping it along by keeping on with those busy eight-hour days.

Readers, what do you say? Have you or a loved one endured a long, discouraging job hunt? What have you found to keep your spirits up and help you stay motivated? If you've gotten hired after a long search, what do you think was most helpful in landing your new job? Post your thoughts on the Ask Annie blog.

First Published: June 4, 2009: 6:04 AM ET

[Maxine1958]

The definition of insanity is to repeat the same task over and over again expecting different results.

[DetroitDad]

The definition of insanity is to repeat the same task over and over again expecting different results.

No... it's not. From Dictionary.com;

in·san·i·ty [[ĭn-sān'ĭ-tē)
n. pl. in·san·i·ties

1. Mental illness or derangement. No longer in scientific use.
2. Law
   1. Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility.
   2. In most criminal jurisdictions, a degree of mental malfunctioning sufficient to relieve the accused of legal responsibility for the act committed.
   3. Extreme foolishness; folly.
   4. Something that is extremely foolish.
3. 1. Extreme foolishness; folly.
   2. Something that is extremely foolish.

How on Earth is looking for a job extremely foolish? You could say doing the same task over and over without change is insanity, but even then, your playing a numbers game, and Einstein would agree. Say these places really are getting an average of ten applications a day, three hundred or so in a month, a third of which are really good candidates. There is a good chance they aren't even going to get to your application. Your odds are at best, one in one hundred. You need to consider the possibility that you have to fill out one hundred applications for jobs you are truely qualified for before you even get seen.

Of course, doing things to stand out helps, something I am guessing a few of us are having a hard time doing.

[Maxine1958]

Sorry, my attempt at sarcasm wasn't up to par today.

I know many, many people who've been looking for work since last year. There's nothing out there. A few have discovered their own resumes out on different postings.

Looking for a job is not extremely foolish. The concept of devoting eight hours a day, forty hours a week, to comb through the same listings and websites, that's the insanity I was referring to. You can only do that for so long before the depression and anxiety set in. At some point you have to focus your attention on something, almost anything, else.

[CornBot]

With my DH's history of finding/keeping sustainable gainful employment, and with the future of my own job teetering on the ragged edge, I have been paying closer-than-ever attention to job-search advice. I have mostly lost my faith in the "experts," because it is experts who got us into this economic mess, but I always hope to discover a nugget of common sense hidden between lines of self-righteous drivel masquerading as Expert Advice. Here's a piece of bathroom reading I found mildly humorous:

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article...eId=cbmsn41927

[Bobl]

CornBot:
Enjoyed the article.
I made two of the recommended suggestions last October, when the interviewer expressed a concern that I might not stay long if another opportunity came up.
I replied that I needed to "land" somewhere after nearly a year of unemployment, and that I welcomed "hands on" work.
Hired!
Found myself employed, doing hands on work, and commended myself for finally finding employment in such a difficult market.
Seven weeks later, sales had collapsed and part of the operation was moved to Mexico. The job evaporated.
In this market, commitment is sought, but not offered, by employers!
Still looking......

[CornBot]

In this market, commitment is sought, but not offered, by employers!
Still looking......

Boy, did you hit the nail on the thumb.

[Bigb23]

I feel I have to dumb down my resume to compete in this job market, from a CAD designer to a gas jockey. Wish me luck.

[CornBot]

Here's some more light reading on exactly that, dumbing-down one's resume: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124328878436252195.html

My old man was a mainframe systems programmer who, 3 years post-job-offshoring, had to beg a staffing firm for a chance to temp on an assembly line. They were not sure he could handle the work because it did not fit the parameters of his "skill set." As if he could not learn any other skills, I guess.

Well, go figure, he did well in the factory in spite of his education. On his resume, the line experience along with the computer experience showed up as a whole new skill set that ultimately got him the job he just started at this past week. Now he's using a PC on the factory floor. LOL.

I do wish you luck.

[Bigb23]

Hey - I just got a 20% discount on a trip to Tahiti. Thanks AAA, for the info I sadly can't take. How about that trip to Paris that can't be done. Or the trip to Dublin that always has been with me ? What part of a depression don't you understand ? Help the people cope, not throw it their face. Oh well - just a rant.

Oh - 25% off on that trip to Costa Rica.

[Bobl]

Bigb23: Your quote: "...What part of a depression don't you understand ? Help the people cope, not throw it their face. Oh well - just a rant. ..."

Well put!
This is something that we thought would never happen to us. I keep thinking of the line from the Freak Out album...."It can't happen here, It can't happen here...."
In my case, something HAS TO HAPPEN in the next few weeks.
Disaster looms....