Is the Internet the best way to find a job?

I agree with you. Applying for a job is a numbers game anyway, and you have to send out a ton of resumes before you hear from anyone. But I've had limited success when I send resumes online. When I send a resume through an online site that specifically caters to my line of work (like a site only for service jobs or a site only for communication jobs), I've been called in for more interviews than when I send out a resume through a general job site. But I still think face-to-face is better. It gives your potential employer a better sense of who you are than an online resume. The best way to get a job is to go through personal connections. Bosses like to hire people who are recommended to them by a person they trust, which is why networking in your field is so important.

Applying in person went out with Nixon, and IMO rightly so, for two reasons. The first reason is that buy the time I graduated there were at least a hundred applicants for each job, and the hiring person got maybe 10 minutes with each person, and didn't have time to actually read the application or resume. It was a logistical nightmare for the company, and felt more like a cattle call than an interview. The second reason is that I know for a fact that the most qualified person didn't always get hired, that the applicant was judged in that 10 minute period on other things. I'm not sure what criteria they used to hire me for my first job, but I know it wasn't my qualification, because quiet frankly I didn't qualify. With hundred's of applicants for each job, it's much better for all concerned to judge people by their qualification before you get to meet them and judge them on other things that aren't really relevant to the job.

No, I don't think the Internet is the best way to find a job. It is a great tool to be used in conjunction with other job search methods. There is still nothing like the old fashioned person to person networking. Creating a real life relationship is the best way to find a job. The Internet might get you the job interview, but it's your person to person skills that turn the interview into employment. For a limited time, the Relationship Capital Co. is offering free job search training for your unemployed readers at: http://RelationshipCapital.CO/JobNetworkingPrimer/?utm_source=bl&utm_med...