Job hunting

[rowyn]

A topic near and dear to all of us, I'm sure. :/ I haven't looked for a job in seven years, and am looking for some advice on how to go about it nowadays. (I never was all that good at it). There are a lot of Internet job search sources available, I know, and my local newspaper posts its classified section online. And I know networking is the best way to get a job (out of ... um ... the ten or so jobs I've gotten, seven of them were by networking -- and I'm pretty bad at networking to boot, which ought to show how useful it is.) Anyway, what I'm mainly wondering about is:

Are there any offline resources that you've found useful? (Or Internet ones that you particularly like, for whatever reason).
Are there any advantages to snail-mailing resumes over emailing them? Is there a point to "following up" on a resume if you don't get a response to it, or is it pointless to expect a response to most resume submissions nowadays?

General suggestions also welcome, naturally. Thanks!

Comments

[octantis.livejournal.com]

I can only offer my experiences, which may not be all that helpful. :/

I found a couple of my jobs, including the one I held the longest, in the classified ads... but since I'm an unskilled grunt and you're a trained bank pro, I don't think you'd be as well served by that method; still, they're worth a look, and it's cheap.

On snail-mail vs. e-mail submissions... I doubt it matters. If they specify a way to submit, go with that, if they offer both options, I'd say go with e-mail because it's convenient for everyone, instantaneous, and will reach the right people because they're asking for it, if they don't specify how they want it, then snail-mail seems like the conservative best choice, as you don't know whether their HR e-mail address will really shuffle your resume in the right direction.

I think it's a good idea to follow up on resumes. It's harmless, and potentially makes you look eager and earnest, and makes your app stick out in their mind. People won't get annoyed unless you're calling them up every day.

That's about all I can think of... I'm definately no authority. :/ I got my last job through an aquaintance, the two jobs before that in the classifieds, and before that by filling out an application. (Bleagh!) I imagine you have more experience and qualifications than I do.

Is everything all right? What happened? :/

Re:

[rowyn]

Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate it. :) Every now and again, I get to wondering if I'm underpaid at my current job. Right now, I suspect I'm not, given my level of responsibility. Only one way to find out if I'm worth more elsewhere, really. ;)