Here are some tools you can employ to keep your browsing to a minimum and your networking and information gathering to a maximum.
Many companies list their job openings primarily on their corporate websites, a practice that saves them money and keeps the job pool, to a degree, filled by people interested in working there. A posting on a company's website that does not appear on public job boards is appealing to job seekers. Remember though some aggregators simply pull those openings off corporate websites, opening them to a broader audience.
A company's website is the first place to go when researching specific employers. You may often find vision and mission statements, a history of the organization and names of key supervisors. Large companies typically require job seekers to use their website's online application to be considered for all of their openings.
These sites, sometimes called "job boards," are among the most popular ways to find job leads on the Internet. You can use keywords to find jobs based on certain criteria. They help you get more specific results by location, field, industry or job title. One of the most common mistakes that job seekers make is spending too many hours browsing job boards.
Job expert Peter Weddles came up with a strategy for using job boards that goes like this: 2GP+3N=1GJ. (2GP stands for two general-purpose websites; 3N for three niche or specialized sites and 1GJ for one great job.) General job boards list thousands of jobs from thousands of employers, the drawback being the popularity of these sites can be a disadvantage. For this reason, dedicate more of your attention to niche job boards focusing on openings in specific industries.
The Internet is the fastest way to access published information. Newspapers, magazines and trade journals can all be found online. Trade journals contain articles by industry experts, information about networking events, suggestions on industry blogs and jobs. To find a trade journal related to your search, try typing "trade journal directory" into a search engine. Or, go to your public library for help accessing trade journal and professional association databases.
Almost every industry has an association with a website full of information on trends, volunteer or professional development opportunities, best practices, industry news and, inevitably, a job board. It may require membership in the organization to get at the really good content and the job board. Most charge annual fees so you'll have to determine whether the fee is worth it.
