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Looking for a job or planning a career in the SACRAMENTO Area?

what where
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You're in the right place for LOCAL job openings, career assistance and information for the Northern California Counties of Alpine, El Dorado, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo & Yuba.

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Help Wanted

[Tips] [Traps] [Moral of the Story]

Tips

Some employers are more willing to advertise positions on the Internet than in the newspaper or on a telephone hotline. (Reason: Anyone who can find them is computer-smart.)
Electronic jobs ads give the employer more control over their recruiting than other means. As more and more large organizations, like hospitals and universities, create a WWW presence, they begin to post ALL their job openings--technical and non-technical. (Reason: The ads are easily deleted or modified and, in some cases, it costs less to advertise on the Internet than in a newspaper.)
Electronic ads reach a wider audience (or "candidate pool") via the Internet than in any other medium.
The Internet is faster than any other medium--post an ad and get email or fax responses from candidates in 24 hours or less.
For years, jobseekers have wondered how to get a recruiter ("executive search firm") interested in them. The old story used to be: "Don't call us, we'll call you." Now recruiters use the Internet to collect qualified candidates to place with their clients.
ArrowVisit Riley Guide's Executive Search Firms to learn more about working with recruiters and browse a short list of Search Firms.

Search Your Library To learn more about over 2,000 U.S. recruiters, their fee structures and the kinds of positions a particular firm handles, go to your library and take a look at Directory of Executive Recruiters. This guide is published every year and will be owned by larger research libraries.


What's the good news for jobseekers?

Instant access to job openings that may not be published anywhere else.

Traps

Many, many of these job ads are for folks that aren't having a big problem finding their next position: programmers who write WWW interfaces or C++, certain multimedia positions, whatever the hottest software language is this week.
When a job ad reaches a larger audience, competition among job seekers increases. For those with less experience or higher salary requirements, it gets tougher to survive the screening process.
Electra suspects, but can't say for sure, that some of these ads are pro forma. That means it seemed like a good idea to announce the position but the job is already taken. (Hey, you see this in the newspaper too.)
There are some jobs you'll never see on the Internet. Basically anything a company wants to keep quiet from their competition. Maybe the company is starting a new hush-hush product line, re-organizing a troubled division or replacing someone who hasn't been told about it yet. These situations are the bread & butter of recruiters ("executive search firms") and, sometimes, the Hidden Job Market.
Some, not all, of the mega-job search sites are making money by offering employers a place to post their ads or establish a beachhead. While there's nothing wrong with this, sometimes corners get cut: job ads aren't dated, ads are taken from unidentified sources, recruiter ads aren't marked. Electra is unanimous in this: a job ad with no date ain't much of a job ad.


Moral of the Story

(you knew it was coming)...

Spend some time with these resources but keep your critical faculties intact. If, after several weeks of responding to electronic job ads, you're getting nowhere:

  • Re-evaluate your search strategy. Are you applying for jobs that aren't suitable at this point in your career? Is your geographic focus too narrow (for example, you only search for jobs in Fremont or Azusa or Hoboken)?
  • Get feedback on your resume and cover letter from a knowledgeable person in your field or a Career Center.
  • Beef up your networking activities both electronically and in the flesh.
  • Start following leads in the Hidden Job Market and uncover the job that's right for you.