Question about jobs-how you got yours

mrs. remy

I am just curious, how many of you got your jobs by responding to an ad (i.e. in the classifieds, career builder, etc.) vs. by knowing someone.

DH is incredibly frustrated because he found an online listing for a job he was perfectly matched to. The best part, it was seriously 5 minutes from our house. He responded to the ad literally within a couple hours after it was posted, only to be emailed and told they were currently in final negotiations with 3 candidates and they would "keep his resume on file". He says he knows what happened-they filled the position internally but posted it online anyway to comply with EO regulations etc. He says it happens all the time in his industry and the only way to get a job in his industry is if you know someone who can put a good word in for you.

I however, got my job from an ad in the Post and we currently still recruit people this way. So I am just wondering how it is for everyone else.

KathrynMD

I've gotten all but my first job through word of mouth or referrals.

idonthavethis

I actually took a test to get in here (the Feds). After the test, I was placed on a list and got a call to come in for an interview. I think I was in the last class to take the test because they've since done away with that. Now to get in, you have to apply through USAjobs.

SarahKate31

I got my job from the most microscopic add in the actual newspaper (Post). But that was 8 years ago.

DH recently posted his resume on Monster, Career Builder and one other place (that I forget) and he got lots of calls. Some were jobs that were far away or not what he was looking for, but still. The interviews he actually got by having friends/coworkers give his resume to their companies or having them talk to their bosses and set something up. If I ever want to switch jobs, I'll be screwed because I don't know anyone.

Whenever my office is hiring, they always ask us to refer people. If we don't, then they advertise online and I think in the paper still.

madladybride

I saw my job posted on my professional association's website. It was a national search and I was living out west at the time. In my industry, there can be some word of mouth, not so much about jobs, as candidates.I have been asked several times if I know or have worked with so-and-so...

kelleymark82606

I knew someone...

 Depending on company and job, I totally agree it depends on who you know.  

Cooper81

I got my current job at the job fair my agency held.  I was here from 8 am to 6 pm, I interviewed, did a ton of waiting, got  a tentative offer, was finger-printed, did a drug test and started about 8 months later after the full check was done.

 

DH got his current job through a recruiter.  He has since been contacted by a few through Linkedin and has had a few offers for an interview.

jcsntms06

I applied for the job via the company's webpage. I didn't know anyone at the time when I applied.

LoveLossHopeRepeat

I got my first job because I knew someone who knew someone.

The three jobs I've had since then I've gotten because I posted my resume on Monster and similar sites. Even while employed and not actively job searching I get contacted pretty often about job opportunities because my resume is still out there. 

KathrynMD

I get a lot of inquiries now from LinkedIn

 

mrs. remy

KathrynMD:

I get a lot of inquiries now from LinkedIn

 

I know a ton of people on LinkedIn but I have never set up a profile because I don't want someone googling my name and finding all that info about me. Is there a way to tweak it so it isn't google-able and only other linkedin people can see it?

Megcheer2

I knew someone, but there are not a lot of open jobs in my field and so whenever one becomes open, word spreads and everyone is made aware pretty quickly. If you wait for it to be posted online, you're usually too late. 

SarahKate31

mrs. remy:

KathrynMD:

I get a lot of inquiries now from LinkedIn

 

I know a ton of people on LinkedIn but I have never set up a profile because I don't want someone googling my name and finding all that info about me. Is there a way to tweak it so it isn't google-able and only other linkedin people can see it?

Only part of my LinkedIn profile is visible through a Google search, though admittedly, more than I thought. I'll have to try to lock it down.

Weird thing about LinkedIn, my boss went through and "endorsed" me (or whatever) for a ton of different skills, most of which I don't have and we don't use at work, so I have no idea what he was doing. I suspect HE had no idea what he was doing either!

meghann1046

My current job I got by applying on the company's website directly.   

My previous job (apartment manager) I got through a friend.

 I had my resume up on a lot of sites but never had any luck.  

KathrynMD

mrs. remy:

KathrynMD:

I get a lot of inquiries now from LinkedIn

 

I know a ton of people on LinkedIn but I have never set up a profile because I don't want someone googling my name and finding all that info about me. Is there a way to tweak it so it isn't google-able and only other linkedin people can see it?

the whole point it to make yourself findable. .. so I don't know how you would shut it down altogether.

The only information on mine is really my resume and experience.. .. which is the point.

mrs. remy

KathrynMD:

mrs. remy:

KathrynMD:

I get a lot of inquiries now from LinkedIn

 

I know a ton of people on LinkedIn but I have never set up a profile because I don't want someone googling my name and finding all that info about me. Is there a way to tweak it so it isn't google-able and only other linkedin people can see it?

the whole point it to make yourself findable. .. so I don't know how you would shut it down altogether.

The only information on mine is really my resume and experience.. .. which is the point.

yeah, that freaks me out, I don't have my FB profile google-able either. I don't want people to find me. But I am weird.

septemberdc

This one through a job listserve and the previous one through my cousin.

tspring82

Various ways... 

This is an outlier situation but I was graduating HS and didn't want to work retail during the summer and in college. So I wrote a letter to the director of one of Baltimore County's departments where I figured I'd be an asset and basically sold myself as a summer intern. They offered me a part-time position at the end of the summer and eventually going into my 2nd year of college, they offered me full time job where I remained for 5 more years.


I was recruited by word of mouth when I left there through networking (the old fashioned way, not Linked In) to go to a start up company...I hated the job though and only lasted 6 months before a friend of mine passed my resume onto her company's HR Department.  I stayed there for a few years before being bored to death and started applying for jobs directly through company websites (not through Monster/Intuit/Career Builder, etc.).  From this, I landed 2 interviews and am where I am now because of it. 

Ragdolls

The hiring process at HLS is sort of its own animal.  There are on campus interviews during 2L year over the course of weeks, followed by call back interviews where you spend days in whatever city interviewing with firms and gaining like 10 pounds from lunches and dinners with places where you have offers.  Then you spend your 2L summer with the firm you choose and, unless something goes very wrong, get an offer to return there after you graduate.  Lateral switches after that are generally via headhunter, which is what I used when I moved from NY to here.

nezwee

Essentially, I knew someone. But I had to go through all the same routes anyone else does to get a job on Campus. My previous state job, I just applied for online. Other jobs, I have used a recruiter and word of mouth. So pretty much a little bit of everything for me.

pssjadey

I landed my "straight out of college but starting my career" job by applying through Monster.   I continually updated my resume as I learned new skills with that contractor and was recruited for a different contractor within a year. 

Contractor #2 happened to have lab space in my current government building, which allowed several people to notice my skills and abilities.  I worked with them for 1.5 years before the government "stole" me to work for them. 

Now with the hiring freeze, I would never expect that to happen.  Knowing someone at this point *might* be the only way to get in and even that's iffy.      

pengy16

I had originally applied for an internship at my company while I was still in college but never heard anything but when I was about to graduate I saw them list an open interview day on Monster so I sent my resume in. I got a call asking if I would come in for the interview day. At the interview day I was offered a conditional offer on the spot. After the extensive background work up they do, I officially started 4 months later. I have since then switched jobs internally but that was through the internal job boards. I am about to make another transition internally again but this time I am trying to network to get on the specific team I want to work on. 

tmm140

I had a contract with the county and schools would call me with openings.  It was nice.  I didn't "know" anyone though.  I am sure things are WAY different now a days. 

firedancer1028

To get a teaching job in Harford Co you basically have to know someone. I got my first job by doing several long-term subbing positions over 2 school years.  Finally when a position opened up, I slid right in since I knew the administration and teachers at that point.

My second position I got by several friends putting in a good word for me with the principal here.  Now I'm looking to move again, but math positions are non-existant in this county.  We have several people that sub regularly here that have been waiting for something to open up for years.

KathrynMD

firedancer1028:

To get a teaching job in Harford Co you basically have to know someone. I got my first job by doing several long-term subbing positions over 2 school years.  Finally when a position opened up, I slid right in since I knew the administration and teachers at that point.

My second position I got by several friends putting in a good word for me with the principal here.  Now I'm looking to move again, but math positions are non-existant in this county.  We have several people that sub regularly here that have been waiting for something to open up for years.

I thought math teachers were always in high demand?

firedancer1028

That's what I always heard too, but for the last several years there have only been 2-3 openings in middle school math in the entire county.

misscastle

My first two jobs were a result of me meeting someone or cold e-mailing someone and pushing for a job -- in fact, my job at What's Up was created for me because I spent a year nagging them to let me work there (it was promptly followed by me wanting to leave, but that's another story).

However, my current job actually was from an online ad! It was an ad on Washington Post jobs. I had been applying for jobs for a while, and I did get a number of calls from online ad posts -- I interviewed for a marketing job with the Md wineries association, got a call for a web editor job in Waldorf, a communications job for John Hopkins in Rockville...so it can happen!  

Mrs.DeVa

With SWA the only way to get hired is to apply online. The only way you can apply is when SW formally posts the position on their website or our employee website. You can know all the people in the world but this is the only way to even apply for the job.

summer08bride

My first job in college with the Federal Govt, my aunt worked there, so that's how I got that job. Every other job, I applied online directly through the company, or through careerbuilder.  Working in higher ed, even if you know someone, you still have to apply and go through the process.

mrsbecky07

I applied to an opening on my school's career website.  I was lucky though, it was a federal position that did NOT involve USA Jobs (I sent my resume directly to the person hiring) and it was in the midst of a mass hiring for my position.