First I must say thanks for
checking back on my blog page. Either at your own curiousness or at my request,
I appreciate the time spent on stopping by. I found a nicer template that fits
my style, and I hope that this is easier on the eyes and brain.
I am three weeks into my
adventure, and the phrase “a fool’s errand” is starting to resonate in my
skull. The sad thing is, I am the one saying it over and over again. To say
that I am feeling doubtful for the successful completion of the remaining year would be accurate. I am very cautious now, for many reasons, looking ahead into
the next six weeks of this pledge.
Of course the finances need –
must be better. What I am bringing in now is laughable. To make money online
with a start up cost of zero dollars is like trying to pick blueberries with
boxing gloves on. You’re only going to make a counterproductive mess, and with
the right additives, maybe some jams and jellies.
It deeply saddens me to say that
I will have to find a traditional means of employment and have it on deck if
things don’t improve. I will not accept
a job or start until the event horizon has been breached. Unfortunately, that is coming sooner than I
want. I love the illusion of being able to continue investigating, blogging, connecting
with new people, and so forth. But even if I have to bow out of my pledge to
not spend gas money or work for someone, I will still continue to research and
build the database for everyone.
Looking for a job is tiresome,
difficult, and menial. I feel this way because I have worked 27 of them in my
life. I am lucky to say that a majority of my employment was found off of local
job boards. I personally have never used any of the big name sites, and after
doing some digging earlier this afternoon, I can count my blessings.
With over one million job
postings and resumes at any given time, monster.com delivers a service that is
known to do more than just disappoint. Only 3.6% of applicants who apply for
a job through monster are accepted to a full-time, salary position with benefits.
Corporate behemoths have absurd budgets for hiring through job boards. Perfect
example is Lockheed and Martin in 2001, spending close to two million dollars.
Of course, this has significantly dropped,
along with their traffic. In 2006, monster.com was the 20th most
visited site among 100 million others around the globe. Now, in 2013, we are
looking at closer to 600th most visited site – switched with now
more popular and sensible, craigslist.com. Thousands of job hunters are finding
more success with faster response time, relevant posting, and stricter guidelines
for employers through free and local sites. I know this personally.
Big board sites allow less fodder
to blast in, but more of it sticks in the long run. They charge employers for their
reality, yet allow anything at that point that is even closely within their
guidelines to be posted. Yes, Craigslist does have cities that charges between 25$ and 75$ to
post in largely populated areas. But close to 87% of their cities are at no
charge. Monster, however, charges between 180 and 385$ on a time-basis: from
two weeks, to two months. Chances are, if you are looking for a specific field
of work, say I.T. anything, you are apt to find positions for sales or
marketing – companies that can hire over accomplished, unemployed and highly
educated workers to only fill seats for anything entry-level.
As professionals (I am far from
that by the way), it would make more sense to give the bigger sites a quick
glance first before wasting too much time with them. The biggest issue with
free posting sites is that anything can seep in with the right level of clever
writing. They also have lower requirements. With Craigslist, it is common to
see a posting lacking contact means, job description, or company information. Sometimes
only having a reply button can be your worst enemy.
With the unemployment rate at the
lowest it has been in four years, one would think that the millions and
millions of postings on job boards across the… board? should be much, much lower.
The truth is, when you apply to a company off of a website, you are redirected
to their online application means – be it their own software, or a third party's.
These programs are designed to pick up on key words or phrases to effectively
find the right candidate. Also, most programs are on a timer. If you were to
take too long on a specific section, say education, then it could mean that you
will time out, and have to start from the beginning. Any worker in human
resources will probably say that they are overwhelmed with resumes and
applications 10:1, and I am sure they are right. But it seems unfortunate for
anyone to be shot down right out of the gates.
Trying to find the keywords to put
on an online application is easier than you think. Recruiters are trained to
scan over your cover letters and resumes, seeking for the correct jargon, work
related terms, and common duties to quickly find the best fit for the shoe. Is there a perfect phrase or
way to structure your words in a proper sequence to trick the eyes and get that
second or third interview? There seems to be. In watching the video on the
first link, I learned that some applicants were literally copying the posting of what they are applying for, and pasting it in the appropriate fields of the
application software. And low and behold, they advanced through the hiring
process.
This is mostly information I have
acquired through my many years as a drunk, paranoid conspiracy theorist who
worked on average a new job every two months. Links are posted below to what I
read today.
I am starting to think, now that
I am finishing this blog, that it is going to be close to impossible to
continue this pledge without finding some form of employment – be it part or
full time. Just to let it be known, I am deeply saddened. I have to put the
house first. But I will not give this up. Even if I have to log in hours at a
normal job, I will still continue blogging, researching, and updating. My
pledge is to not give up, and to still help out others.
What’s your pledge?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec12/makingsense_09-25.html
http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/monster-vs-craigslist-4443.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster.com
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