Find a Job: The Best Ways and the Worst Ways

As with every thing else in life, there are best and worst ways to find a job.
There are effective and ineffective methods of job search.

In general terms, when you do something that does not actively involve interacting with another human being, you will be less successful. When you contact individuals, you will be more successful.

Least Successful Ways of finding work:

1. Answering newspaper, magazine or online job advertisements.
This method averages around 7% success rate, and yet it is the only form of job search that many people engage in. Think about it, when you apply for an advertised job, you are in competition with everyone else who is doing the same. In a tight job market, this can mean hundreds of other job seekers.
It’s by no means impossible to land a good job through the classifieds, or the employment pages on websites, but it is not one of the more successful methods.

2. Mailing resumes to employers, unasked.
If the employer is not actively looking for an new employee with your skills, and your resume arrives uninvited in his/her inbox, (paper or electronic) s/he is unlikely to bother much about it. Of course, if you are lucky, you’re resume will arrive just as someone has handed in their notice … but what are the chances of that!
If you do send out resumes to employers unasked, to make this method at all productive, you must follow up promptly with a phone call (tell the employer in your cover letter that you will do so – the do it!)

3. Listing your name with Employment Agencies
Again, you may get lucky. In the more general jobs, like office administration, you may well get several short term postings, and may even eventually find a company who wants to “buy” you from the agency and give you a permanent job. The lower paying the job you are seeking, the more chance you have for success with this method.
According to Richard Bolles of “What Color is your Parachute”, these methods outlined above all have a below 10% success rate.

However, that does not mean there is no work out there. There is. You just have to know how to find it. Read on:


Most Successful Ways of finding work:

1. Talk to people, everyone and anyone. Ask them not only if they know of any jobs in your field, but also if they know anyone who works in your field that you could talk to – not to ask for a job, just to find out where they think there might be possibilities for you. Usually people have a pretty good idea what is out there in their own field of employment.

2. Cold call on employers even if they don’t appear to be hiring. Phone and ask if you can come in to see them, on in smaller companies, just show up and ask to see the manager or human resource person. If they are busy, ask to make an appointment. Dress professionally, and have your resume with you.

3. Use the Yellow Pages. Look up the index in the Yellow Pages for every heading that might apply to you, the read the entries under each heading. Write down the names of any company you think might employ people with your skills. Either online, or by phone, find out the name of the hiring manager, then proceed as above with a cold call.

The most successful method of all:

Combine all of the above.

Here a great resource to help you find a job.