Finding Job Openings

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Finding Job Openings

• Stephen Wood
• TCCC

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Success Rates for the Various Places to Find Job
Openings

• Posting a resume on your own web site - 0
  success rate
• Computerized lists and job registers - 4 success
  rate
• Private employment agencies - 5 success rate

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Private Employment Agencies

• Be careful about applying -- the application form
  is often structured as a legal contract
• Be careful about paying -- find out the fees up
  front. Be wary of agencies that demand money up
  front. Some agencies are paid a percentage of
  your salary as commission. Also, if the employer
  pays, keep in mind that the agency works for
  them, not you.
• Be careful about claims of success -- often
  agencies inflate success rates by cooking the
  numbers.

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Success Rates for the Various Places to Find Job
Openings

• Posting your resume online at an employment site
  (like Monster.com) - 10 success rate (for
  certain technical professions, much less for
  other types of jobs). The rate of success also
  drops as the salary for the job increases.
• Local newspaper want ads - 10 success rate at
  best. The rate of success drops as the salary for
  the job increases.

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Local Newspaper Want Ads

• Watch out for certain phrases
• energetic self-starter - you will be working on
  commission
• good organizational skills - you will be filing
  stuff
• make an investment in your future - multi-level
  marketing / pyramid scheme
• much client contact - telephone sales work,
  especially cold calls
• Avoid fake ads
• Scams to get your money or personal info
• Ads that are actually for employment agencies
• Avoid being screened out over the phone

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Success Rates for the Various Places to Find Job
Openings

• Ads in a professional or trade journal - 11
  success rate
• Government employment agencies - 13 success rate
• Shotgunning resumes to lots of employers at once
  - 15 success rate
• Job placement office at your school - 20 success
  rate

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Success Rates for the Various Places to Find Job
Openings

• Asking relatives for leads - 27 success rate
• Asking friends for leads - 34 success rate
• Asking instructors for leads - 34 success rate
• Applying directly to individual employers - 47
  success rate

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The Parachute Method

• According to Richard Nelson Bolles, the most
  productive method of finding a job is to apply to
  a targeted employer this method has an 85
  success rate. This is the method he has
  developed over the years in his series of books
  entitled What Color Is Your Parachute?.

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The Parachute Method

• The Parachute method involve applying directly to
  employers that you have targeted. You target
  those employers by identifying your ideal job,
  using the flower diagram.

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The Parachute Method

• With the filled out flower diagram, research
  possible employers with the following process
• Your preferred geographical setting
• Your preferred field
• Your preferred tasks or skills
• Your preferred people, things, and info
• Your preferred working conditions
• Your preferred prestige, salary, benefits, power
• Your preferred spiritual values

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Parachute Method
This will provide you a list of potential
employers that are best suited to your skills and
values. Apply directly to these employers.