Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Speculative Job Ads
Dave Jensen at Sciencecareers.org started a thread on the value of job ads posted online and explains why they are of decreasing usefulness for the typical job seeker:
"One company that I know buys so many job ads that they've brought the price down on a major job posting site to as little as $5 per ad. This means, I'm afraid, that managers can run many different versions of an ad. Some companies use the job ad as a screening tool, not just to find the right candidates, but to identify the right kind of job description. "
This is an important point, and illustrative of why time spent applying online may be of limited use compared to finding ways to get your resume/CV physically in the hands of the as-of-yet unidentified hiring manager for a particular position. I will admit, the latter can feel scarier.
"One company that I know buys so many job ads that they've brought the price down on a major job posting site to as little as $5 per ad. This means, I'm afraid, that managers can run many different versions of an ad. Some companies use the job ad as a screening tool, not just to find the right candidates, but to identify the right kind of job description. "
This is an important point, and illustrative of why time spent applying online may be of limited use compared to finding ways to get your resume/CV physically in the hands of the as-of-yet unidentified hiring manager for a particular position. I will admit, the latter can feel scarier.
