An acquaintance of mine, who’s now in job search after 25+ years at the same company, recently stated that looking for a job used to be easier, because “all you had to do was look in the Sunday paper.” We were attending a presentation about how to use some of the “advanced” features of LinkedIn and I understand why she was feeling overwhelmed.
Just keeping a LinkedIn profile up-to-date and maximized is pretty time-consuming and that’s just one element of job search. Researching target companies, tracking down contacts and potential hiring managers, attending networking events and job search seminars, not to mention preparing for and going to interviews, it’s a lot to do. I’ve heard more than one job seeker say that they’re working a whole lot harder in job search than they did in their actual job.
Still, the job search process may have been easier, or at least less complex, 25 or 30 years ago but I firmly believe that now is better. There are so many resources available to a job seeker. There’s LinkedIn, of course, and all the various job boards. There’s Twitter and some cool job search blogs (like this one!) There’s your local library. Yes, really. A good library, and a good research librarian, can be a job seeker’s best friend. They are the gateway to online business databases like Reference USA, Hoovers and LexisNexis, where you can find all kinds of great information about your target companies.
Yes, the process and all that information can be overwhelming, but I wouldn’t want to go back to the days of buying the Sunday paper and circling jobs with a red pen. For a savvy job seeker who is using all the available resources, these really are the good old days.
Kimberly Hanes is a writer with a passionate love for words and ideas and extensive experience in business communications and event planning.
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