PASSIVELY TESTING THE WATERS . . . EXECUTIVE'S USE OF JOB SEARCH AGENTS
Beth Kniss of assists Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire job
candidates in identifying opportunities. Some of our clients, however, are currently employed and
want us to constantly be on the look-out for appropriate opportunities for
them. They are so focused on
their jobs, they lack the time to take care of their careers. Beth's program for passive job seekers is one of the
services we offer at Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire. For those with the time, here are some thoughts that Beth
has for your review: Many executives are actively engaged with their jobs but
they wonder if they are in touch with great opportunities elsewhere. There are many ways for passive
assignment seeking executives, those who wish to remain alert to new possibilities,
can test the waters. Using
"push technology" (automated delivery of information) is one such
way. A prime example is
employing Job Search Agents. We
will explore this technology in detail below. Job Search Agents go by many names including Job Agents,
Job Hunters, Job Seek Agents, Jobs by Email, Personal Job Shoppers, Job
Finders, and Job Scouts.
Regardless of the name, Job Search Agents all basically perform the same
task - they continually look for jobs based upon specified criteria, and notify
the job seeker when matching jobs are found. The majority of the larger, more well-known career
sites offer Job Search Agents and many of the smaller niche sites (sites
focusing on a particular industry or function) offer them as well. Precious time
- this is what Job Search Agents save the passive executive job
seeker. Instead of having to regularly
remember to visit sites such as 6figurejobs.com, ChiefMonster.com, CareerJournal.com
(Wall Street Journal's site), brilliantpeople.com (Management Recruiters
International site), flipdog.com, ExecutivesOnly.com (fee-based),
ExecuNet.com (fee-based), Netshare.com (fee-based) and Headhunter.net to look
for new jobs, you simply can visit these sites once. Enter your job search criteria in
their Job Search Agent and you will begin to receive emails from these sites
notifying you of new jobs matching your criteria. No one knows about this great little agent, except you and
the site where you set up the agent.
Your current employer won't have access to this information. In many cases you will need to "register" with
the site to establish a Job Search Agent. This typically is a 2-3 minute process where you give the
site some basic demographic data. Some sites require you to submit your resume
before you can set up Job Search Agents. You are not required to publicly post your resume on their
site for companies and search firms to find. Instead your resume sits at their site in the event you
wish to apply for a position through their site, or you decide to post it
publicly in their resume database at a future point in time. Do these Job Search Agents all perform the same way? The answer is no. The very best agents actually email
you the matching jobs right in an email message. Typically they provide you with the job title and a link
that will bring you to the complete description for each matching job. CareerJournal.com, Headhunter.net,
and Flipdog.com, all work this way.
Others offer less efficient ways of notification which typically
involve sending you an email letting you know that new jobs have entered
their database which match your criteria. You then actually have to go to their site and log into
your account, then run the search, which has been saved in your account. This is a more time consuming
process. ChiefMonster.com has their
agent set up this way. Most sites let you decide how often you wish to be
notified by email of matching opportunities. Typical options are daily, or every 3, 7, 14 or 30 days. The advantage of a daily notification
is that you learn of new jobs as soon as they appear on a career site - giving
you the ability to be one of the first applicants. The disadvantage of a daily notification is that you may
get annoyed continually getting emails from these sites, and they often repeat
the same jobs they have sent you previously (Headhunter.net is notorious for
this). Some sites simply email you when they have matching jobs. The downside to this is that you may
not hear for several weeks from the site, which leaves you wondering if the
agent is working properly. Most sites let you set up more than one Job Search Agent. Entering a job title in the Keywords
criteria is one of the best ways to set up an agent. If the titles of the jobs you are
seeking vary, it is best to set up a separate agent for each title. For example, if you are seeking a
Vice President's position, set up one agent using "vice president"
(include the quotation marks) in the keywords box, and a second agent using
VP (no quotation marks) in the keywords box. Then you are assured of finding jobs entered in the
database both ways. Other examples
would be "chief executive officer" and ceo; "chief financial
officer" and cfo, and "chief operating officer" and coo. Which are the most effective Job Search Agents? For getting the best quality matches
(the Job Search Agent actually finds jobs exactly matching your criteria),
CareerJournal.com, America's Job Bank and NationJob.com's PJ Scout are among
the best. Others, which locate
decent job matches are ChiefMonster.com and Flipdog.com. They do, however, source many jobs that
don't match the criteria. They
tend to source jobs which are related to the job you may be seeking. The reason they are sourced is
because their description contains the keywords for the job you are
seeking. Taking the 15-20 minutes to set up a Job Search Agent at
some of these sites can ensure a regular flow of potential opportunities, and
help you maximize your career options. To learn more about Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire programs,
email The enclosed article was written by Alvin and Heidi Toffler during the recession of '01. From their perspective, the stock market gyrations of '01/02 will seem like relatively minor burps when we look back at what is to come. What do you think? Send your comments to lstybel@stybelpeabody.com
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