Whether you are just graduating from college and looking to get started with a new career, bored with your current job and looking for something new, or lost a job and need to find new employment, many wonder where to begin searching for companies who are hiring right now. There is so much information out there, it’s hard to know where to get started with fresh, legitimate, job leads.
Don’t Waste Your Time
There are some avenues you just shouldn’t waste your time with. One is job posting boards. The problem with job posting boards is that often the postings aren’t taken down after a position is filled. You end up wasting valuable time going after a job lead that is a dead end. Another downfall is that general positions are often posted, they company may not actually be hiring, but just looking to keep resume’s on file for future openings.
General internet searches are often a waste of time as well. You end up weeding through hundreds of positions not knowing when they were posted, if the position is still available, and often even where the job is located.
Focus On Productive Searches
The internet can be really useful in searching for jobs if you know where to look. Surprisingly, craigslist.com where you can find apartments for rent to local yard sales, also has quite an extensive list of job postings. The benefit of craigslist is that postings are removed after a short period of time, so you are seeing relatively current information.
Another good place to start is Indeed.com. Indeed is like a job search engine. It gathers data from all internet job sites (think monster.com, careerbuilder.com, etc…) and puts them all into one place.
LinkedIn.com is also a fantastic place to start networking. It’s basically an online resume site that allows you to connect with former coworkers, and people in your similar field. You can get recommendations from others about your job performance and ask around for help locating a job in the field you are interested in.
Network
The most productive way to find out who is hiring, is to do the legwork and networking yourself. Put yourself in front of companies who might be hiring and find the right contact people to tell you what jobs are really available. Talk to friends, use social media, ask everyone you know who might know someone in your desired field to help you make connections.
Choose “Hot” Fields
Knowing which professions are in demand is key in figuring out who is hiring. Pay attention to the news, listen to what areas are always reporting shortages in employees. Then, focus on skills you have in those areas. Industries that are almost always hiring are health care, education, human services, transportation, telecommunications, and most recently online marketing/technology.