5.27.2003

How Are The Recruiters Trying To Find Me?

"You probably know about Google....and Teoma.... and Vivisimo.... and lots of other places. Have you ever seen Kartoo at http://www.kartoo.com?  Instead of presenting you with a list of results for your queries, it provides you with a graphical representation of sites that share targeted characteristics. Go there now at http://www.kartoo.com. Let's say that you're looking for resumes of folks that contain the keyword "NT" and show up in the 732 area code of NJ. Search for NT resume NJ 732 Now check out the results! They include:

• http://www.anykeynow.com/res_data/jimenez_r-res.htm
• http://resumes.hotjobs.com/bottomlessmug/networking Note that URL above there?  i.e., hotjobs.com?

Methinks this free resume snuck by! Now search for resumes.hotjobs.com...Voila! http://resumes.hotjobs.com/speaker_23/macintoshspecialist is revealed. Neat, huh?  And if you know how to combine the different search techniques available at Google, Kartoo, Teoma and others, you can zero down in no time flat to your targeted quarry. Remember, Internet recruiting is so much more than merely becoming an expert at one or another search engine! It means being able to take that creative leap and devise personal search steps that bring you the results you need, when you need them.  Take advantage of that."

This is from an article (and newsletter) by Barbara Ling. She has written a variety of articles on effective recruiting techniques. Note how she is looking for free resumes - "NT resume NJ 732". Note also how she is combining the results from various search engines to further narrow down candidates in geographical locations. The key here is keywords. This is why your resume needs to be loaded with them. Step outside your own point of view, and consider it this way; If you were a recruiter trying to find a candidate just like you, how would you do it? Do you have the skills words liberally sprinkled throughout your resume? Do you have a version of your resume online? Do you have a personal site on which it lives? Have you submitted that URL to search engines? (You can do that yourself for free.) Most ISPs give you 5 MB of web space for free along with your account. I would take advantage of this. Geocities or Tripod offers free web space too (but they insert ads into your pages). You probably should not reveal your home address within an online resume, but an e-mail address, pager number, or the beginnings of your home number (i.e. area code) are enough for a recruiter to locate you in a search. (Example: (303) XXX-XX55 (e-mail me for complete number)) Now, most recruiters will still go through the big boards, i.e. Dice, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc., but you want to make sure that you are as visible and accessible to recruiters as possible. Knowing what techniques they use can help you improve yours. You can't rely on this as your sole source of marketing, nor will it result in a lot of calls, but it can certainly augment your job search efforts. The nice thing about this technique is that you can keep your resume online and available without having to declare availability through the job boards. Some companies (tends to be the smaller ones) monitor certain job boards to see if their employees have made their resumes available. Sometime, it's helpful to be able to look without anyone knowing you're looking...

Time Card Calculator

For all of you who work as contractors, or on an hourly basis, or just need to calculate your time and pay - click here to use the Time Card Calculator. This was coded by a brilliant programmer friend of the Fairies. Hope all of you find it useful.

"Work Virus"