JOB SEARCHING -- “FINDING THE NEEDLE”
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS
There are literally hundreds of ways to search for jobs. One way (and now considered the “old-fashioned” way) is the reading the newspaper. Certainly the web has taken down newspapers and definitely the employment classified sections. Still, there are companies who do use the newspaper and business entities that require positing positions in the local paper. For example, some government jobs do have some requirements to post jobs in print. In most cities, newspaper ads do contain a steady number of positions that are entry-level opportunities. The most common positions listed are sales, clerical, accounting, and service industries. Some newspapers have a business section that may also list positions, but if so, typically those are usually higher level, professional positions. Take a look at your local paper to see if it has ads in the business section.
In the newspaper and other employment job posting avenues, sometimes you may see “blind box” ads. These ads run and are designed to advertise positions without revealing the company’s identity. Companies often place these ads to replace a current employee without the employee’s knowledge. Additionally, the company might not want the public to know which company has a vacancy. This allows this companies to respond only to resumes that most closely fit their employment needs and not to hundreds of unqualified candidates. It also reduces the number of phone calls to the human resource departments from applicants and search firms. If you respond to a “blind box” ad, read the advertisement very carefully. Check with your human resources department to find out if they have current openings in the advertised areas. The last thing you want to do is to respond to a “blind box” ad, only later to find out later it is your company that is running the ad! If it is, you might become a full-time, self-employed job seeker very quickly. Check it out!
EMPLOYEE REFERRAL PROGRAMS
Many of the larger companies have an “Employee Referral Program.” This is a monetary incentive program designed to use a company’s existing employees to recruit people into their organization. The employees who give referral candidates who are hired receive money for each successful candidate. This is a very inexpensive way for companies to recruit people, since most people usually associate with those like them. If a company has a great worker, that great worker will most likely know someone like him or her at another company and be able to get that person to consider making a change. Knowing this information, ask your friends at other companies you are interested in and find out if they have such a program. Your personal friends are a tremendous resource for networking and assisting in your job search. If your friends have a job referral program, it should motivate them to take an active part in getting you hired. Some companies with these types of programs do pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for applica
