Introducing...The Mobile Job Seeker!

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog entry about career management. I’m currently on sabbatical and replenishing my energies through the pursuit of my personal hobbies and passions. I will continue to update this blog but I also invite you to follow me on twitter and read my new comic strip, “The Mobile Job Seeker”. In this strip, I give a humorous take on the challenges faced by job seekers, recruiters, and employees. I tweet new episodes 2-3 times a month so stay tuned and “retweet” the stories you like!

Twitter account: www.twitter.com/lewisrod

This Week’s episode of The Mobile Job Seeker: http://Pixton.com/ic:1mcb1zql

Below you will find an excerpt from the book I am currently writing on the corporate recruitment process. This book represents my 1­5+ years experience as a job seeker, employee, career consultant, and recruiter. It will be a few months before it is completed but I promise it will be worth the wait!

Only Dummies Apply Online: The Rants, Raves, and Ramblings of Job Searching (book excerpt)

"I think it’s safe to say that blindly sending résumés to online job postings is an exercise in futility – or foolishness. And though you see all the advertisements from online job sites like Career Builder and Monster begging  you to find your “dream job” on their sites, the actual number of people who get jobs using those sites is quite small in comparison to the number of people who apply. If you’re one of the lucky few to actually make it past the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that companies have ubiquitously deployed for the express purpose of “bagging and tagging” your résumé, then it probably means any one of the following:

1. The Job Seeker applied to a high turnover position.
2. The Job Seeker submitted the perfect résumé and application.
3. The Job Seeker applied to a job for which there were few applicants.

If you don’t want to play the "shell game" of job searching then I suggest you stop the mindless customization of your résumé and cover letter (assuming you were even doing that!) and the filling out of “standard template” application fields. Free your mind from the ATS-induced stupor it is under and use the internet for “people searches” instead of “job searches”. Remember, people hire people – software does not. Let's be clear on one thing – you should NEVER blindly apply to jobs online! If the intent of a job application is to secure an interview, then why would you let a software program affect your chances? You don’t see army-trained snipers using machine guns, do you? They are trained to research, analyze, and study specific targets before they take the kill shot with a high-powered rifle. Be a Sniper! Aim your résumé at the head of the department in which you want to work! Anything less is uncivilized."