Landing a job online; Job hunting tips and resources

Most job hunters these days use the Internet to find job openings. Guy Kawasaki had an interesting post today about his experience posting and filling a job opening on Craigslist.

Since I recently completed the post-college job search, I thought that I'd share a few tips and resources.

For local jobs
Apply online and then stop in their office either the same day or the following day. This works well if you know the contact person for the job opening. It allows you to hand in a paper copy of you resume, cover letter, work examples, transcripts, etc. Also, it allows you to see the company's culture by the dress, decor and the way the company presents itself to visitors.

For out of area or out of state jobs
Set up interviews, meetings, or even informational interviews prior to your visit or relocation. Also, try to include both a permanent and temporary (local) address. Or, just provide a local address. A company may be looking to hire someone locally and disregard out-of-state candidates; it's less coordination, hassle, and expense on their end.

You should always
Dress at least one "level" more formal than the employees at the company. For example, if employees wear jeans on Fridays, you should wear slacks. If the employees wear collared, button down shirts with no ties, wear a tie. And so on and so on. There are exceptions to this rule, but this is a good general rule to follow.

Write a thank you or follow up e-mail whenever someone contacts you. Not only does this help establish rapport, it also helps to let them know you're serious about the position.

Job sites to consider using

College recruiting office or Web site - Very targeted for recent graduates, seniors and juniors. Not a lot of weeding through jobs that require 3-5 years experience.
Craigslist - A lot of junk postings to weed through, but there are some hidden gems.
Local Newspaper(s) - usually free access online. Targeted locally. Great starting point for out for out of state jobs.
Yahoo! Hot Jobs - Large, but not as many jobs as CareerBuilder or Monster.
Monster - Huge. A lot of third-party recruiters.
CareerBuilder - Very Large. Basically the same as Monster.
LinkedIn - mostly intended for people at the middle management level. Create a profile. It's free and helps to build your personal brand.
Doostang - Invite only social network. You must be a member with 20+ friends. E-mail me for an invitation. Functions similarly to LinkedIn once you're a member.
Indeed - jobs from more than 5,000 sources and provides RSS feeds for any job search query.

Thanks to Jason for submitting Indeed.

I recommend setting up RSS feeds for any job site possible. Then, aggregate them to a service like Google Reader, or use live bookmarks. This saves time entering the same criteria day after day.

If anyone has any other job sites that they found to be useful, please post them to the comments and I will surely add them to the list.

Comments

[Anita]

How do I get your email address, for an invite to Doostang. Thanks!

[Jason Whitman]

Craig:

Nice post, I noticed that you included America's Job Bank in your list, which is no longer active. You also might want to check out Indeed.com, which includes jobs from more than 5,000 sources and provides RSS feeds for any job search query.

Take care,

Jason

[Dan Schawbel]

I like your idea of subscribing to job postings through RSS. I think the most important element is to build your network through blogging and through peers. A strong network will allow you to take less interviews and see more results faster.