Traditional Job-Search Methods? Individuals Today

¶ … traditional job-Search methods?

Individuals today experience significant problems as they try to employ traditional strategies at searching or posting jobs. This is largely due to the fact that many fail to acknowledge the fact that a lot of things changed over the years and that it is essential for them to focus on new targets as they try to get a job that is in accordance with their interests.

At the same time, there is also likely to be a much larger number of potential candidates for these positions: these are public positions, so everybody has knowledge of them, everybody can see them posted on the Internet or in the local newspaper or at the job fair.

Moreover, the presence of a large number of candidates minimizes the competitive advantage that a candidate could have: the initial selection is very likely done just based on a CV and these sometimes tend to present subjective information. A person with numerous academic degrees could take over initial process of selection from someone who has fewer degrees, but more experience in the field or who might be otherwise better suited for the position.

One of the best non-traditional job search method is networking. Networking means that the candidate builds a set of connections with relevant people who will later be able to help him gain knowledge of new positions, as well as make recommendations when it comes to his application for that particular position.

The problem with networking is that it takes so much time before it translates into actual results. In order to be successful through this non-traditional job search method, the potential candidate has to spend a lot of time and resources in order to build his connections. This will include activities such as participating in relevant seminars and discussions, meeting with people who work in the same field etc. All these are undertaken before any actual application, so there is no immediate result to these actions.

The non-traditional methods also bring about ethical and moral questions. When it comes to recommendations, one will always wonder whether the recommendation is made based on the professional credentials of the applicant or just because there is a friendly relationship between the applicant and the person making the recommendation.

It also raises the question about the equality of chances when applying for a new position. Should someone chances diminish just because he did not engage in a successful networking campaign? For example, you might have someone who is very qualified as an IT person, but who is actually shy and not socially active, which makes him less inclined to socializing and to networking. He will have no knowledge of new positions and might have see his chances diminish when applying in comparison with someone who has a network. Is that fair? Should one make a decision of recruitment based solely on the professional and academic credentials to minimize the impact of such a scenario?

This also brings about the discussion on whether non-traditional formats tend to keep out women and minorities. The problem with non-traditional formats such as networking is that networking is usually done according to the hobbies and preferences of the participants to the networking sessions. For example, networking will be done during a game of football. A game of football traditionally involves a gathering of men rather than women. With that in mind, women will be excluded from that particular networking group, lowering the chances of potentially obtaining a job through this non-traditional format.