My Career Voyage! Charting The Course

By Patty E. Shaver
MCV Career Development Facilitator

The job search methods that were used 10 years ago are outdated and are no longer very effective. For the career explorer to navigate a successful career voyage it is important to use current job search strategies.

Most Effective Strategies
According to Richard Nelson Bolles, well-known career counselor and author of What Color is Your Parachute? 2009, the five most effective ways to find a job are:

• Life-Changing Job Hunt (86%): inventory and identify the transferable skills you enjoy using most (see assessments). Identify the job environment (see exploration) you would enjoy working in the most. Decide how to get where you want to go by finding out the names of jobs and organizations (networking and researching) and the people with the hiring power.
  
• In a group of other job hunters, using a phone book (84%): call or visit employers and ask if they are hiring for the type of job you want and can do.
  
• By yourself, using a phone book (69%): call or visit employers and ask if they are hiring for the type of job you want and can do.
  
• Knocking on the door (47%): of employers of interest whether they have known job openings or not, and asking if they have the type of job you want and can do.
  
• Networking: Asking for job leads (33%) from friends, family or people in the community.
  

Least Effective Strategies
The least effective methods of obtaining employment are:

• Using private employment/staffing agencies (5-28%), outplacement, recruitment, search firms and college placement offices.
  
• Local newspaper ads (5-24%)
  
• Professional and trade journals (7%)
  
• Randomly mailing resumes to employers (7%)
  
• Internet job postings (4-10%)
  

Use a combination of job search methods spending most of your time using the most effective job search methods, and less time using the least effective methods. Find out from others in your field of interest what the best methods are for finding employment and use them.

The internet can seem like an efficient way to search for jobs, but this should not be your only job search strategy. It is wise to research the job market and make personal contact with people (networking) in order to be noticed. Keep in mind, for every ad you see and apply to online, everyone else can see it also. This increases the competition and decreases chances of getting an interview. Instead, it is wise to spend more of your valuable time tapping into the job market by using the most effective job search strategies.