Poll: Single Most Effective Job Search Method?

[Tortoise]

I'm defining "most effective method" in the sense that the highest percentage of jobs have been landed as a direct result of the person using that method. So the overall success percentage for that method can still be low, but if most of the people who ultimately landed a job got it because of that method and not the others, then that's what I'm calling the most effective method. (Obviously, statistics like that can be difficult to come by, so this should primarily be based on your own gut feeling from personal experience and anecdotal evidence from people you know.)

Part of why I'm interested in this poll is that a close friend of mine, a software engineer, after several years of working at his job in Southern California decided he wanted a change. He didn't have a LinkedIn profile yet, so he created one. A mere one or two days later, he was contacted by a recruiter for a job at Google that he had zero relevant experience in. He got the job.

It blew my mind that such a well-known company--in fact, the #1 best place to work according to GlassDoor's 2015 survey--approached him without him even submitting a resume or an application, that he had only been on the market for a couple of days when they did so, and that they ended up hiring him for a job for which he had no relevant experience.

And then it got me thinking: Over the past several years, it has started sounding like a lot of job-search activity--both by individuals and by companies and recruiters--is taking place specifically on LinkedIn. Is LinkedIn becoming the dominant job-search tool in the modern world? Is it even starting to become more effective than older tried-and-true methods like personal networking?

EDIT: Added "Company websites" option

[Pointedstick]

I get contacted by company recruiters on LinkedIn all the time. It certainly seems like a good avenue.

[ochotona]

i think it depends a lot on the level of job you are looking for, for low end entry level jobs my gut says knocking on doors is still the winner, even if they just send you home to fill an online app it gets you face to face with a manager or HR person.. for mid level and gov jobs i would put my money on Personal networking (colleagues, friends, family) these jobs all seem to be you gotta know somebody to get in nowadays.. for high end and professional jobs.. i have no idea? ...

Personal networking, facilitated by LinkedIn. I just went through a layoff, am negotiating my next job today.

[WiseOne]

Good luck ochotona!

Personal networking is always the way to go.  The best jobs are never advertised, or if they are it's only to satisfy job posting rules and the poster has no intention of taking random applicants.  It's why developing a professional network is so important. 

I'm not sure what the value of LinkedIn really is.  I guess it makes it easier to contact people you know when you are looking.  I ignore the emails until they get too irritating, then I go approve a bunch of contacts...makes me feel like I'm being rude if I don't.

[ochotona]

I have never applied for jobs on LI, I only use it for building my network

[Tyler]

While my first instinct was to vote "personal networking", I've personally had the most luck with a really good resume submitted to a company website.  I got really good at figuring out exactly how to push the right buttons in my field on a single page, and since my particular experience is kinda unique my respond rate was pretty darn high. 

I've had several interviews through recruiters contacting me through Linkedin.  To me, the best thing about LinkedIn is that it usually gives you a specific person to talk to who is more than happy to discuss the position with you.  Anything that does away with cold resume databases where it feels like you're throwing your info into a hole is great in my eyes. 

[Tortoise]

While my first instinct was to vote "personal networking", I've personally had the most luck with a really good resume submitted to a company website.  I got really good at figuring out exactly how to push the right buttons in my field on a single page, and since my particular experience is kinda unique my respond rate was pretty darn high. 

Out of curiosity, have you always limited your resume to one page? I know there are different schools of thought on this, but I currently use a one-page resume because I think it's probably most effective at grabbing the attention of busy recruiters and hiring managers. In my opinion, the most effective advertisements tend to be limited to a single page, and a resume is just a specific kind of advertisement.

However, after accumulating a certain number of years of experience, I've heard it can often make sense to transition to a multi-page resume. Not sure how true that is, but I'm guessing it depends on the type of industry or position one is applying for.

I've had several interviews through recruiters contacting me through Linkedin.  To me, the best thing about LinkedIn is that it usually gives you a specific person to talk to who is more than happy to discuss the position with you.  Anything that does away with cold resume databases where it feels like you're throwing your info into a hole is great in my eyes.

Agreed. When a company or recruiter takes the initiative in making contact, it definitely shows a level of interest that often isn't there when they're merely responding to a job application.

[Tyler]

Out of curiosity, have you always limited your resume to one page? I know there are different schools of thought on this, but I currently use a one-page resume because I think it's probably most effective at grabbing the attention of busy recruiters and hiring managers. In my opinion, the most effective advertisements tend to be limited to a single page, and a resume is just a specific kind of advertisement.

However, after accumulating a certain number of years of experience, I've heard it can often make sense to transition to a multi-page resume. Not sure how true that is, but I'm guessing it depends on the type of industry or position one is applying for.

I haven't always stuck to one page, but I had more luck once I did.  Just like you, I've found the most effective resume is not thought of as a detailed description of your life history but an advertisement you get in the mail.  Concise information relevant to the reader is far more effective than pages and paragraphs.

For reference, my last resume had eight different previous employers in a wide variety of fields.  I managed to summarize each previous job in only one sentence each with an accompanying photo of a successful product during my time there (I have some graphic design and layout skills, which helped immensely).  A few overall stats (# patents, hours in factories, awards, etc) helped round things out.  It was a difficult process to pare down to one page (literally every word was contemplated and included for a reason), but once it was done the reader was able to quickly get a feel for my entire career at a glance rather than skimming pages of fluff. 

Remember, the goal for a resume is not to document your life story -- it's to pique their interest to instigate that first call.  Establishing an open line of communication is the hardest and most important step.  After that, you're in a much better position and can thoughtfully expand on any questions that come up.

For the record, I still think networking might be the more helpful skill in the long run.  But the art of creating a good resume and selling yourself is an under-appreciated skill today. 

EDIT: as a counter, the DW has also had lots of luck with the resume method and she uses 2 pages.  She points out that mine is a bit of a special case, as I'm in a design field with a product portfolio where I can show pictures of my work.  For her, 2 pages (with bullets and white space for easy reading, and quantitative high points) worked really well.  The most important thing is anticipating what the hiring manager is scanning for and making that information most prominent.

[MachineGhost]

You don't really have the right option that I'm thinking of, which would be "cold" networking with potential future colleagues in the target company you want to work for.  By that, I mean inviting so and so person out to coffee (can be done via LinkedIn) and picking their brain.  It will leave a strong impression for when you actually apply and interview for the job that they will hopefully help cultivate you for over time as a de facto apprentice.  Everyone wants to boast about themselves and bask in the appreciation.  You have to go above and beyond what everyone else is doing if you want to truly stand out.  Sending out resumes and cover letters en masse is so 90's and utterly pathetic.  Just like finance, I don't believe anyone receives truly effective skills for job seeking in school.

Recruiters only make money off of placements so thats why they troll LinkedIn...  its a numbers game to them.  Recruiters are only helpful in certain fields.  For lower level jobs, there is Apploi.

[Tyler]

Yeah, I don't recommend mass resume submissions, either.  It works best when your mark is quite specific and the resume is on-point. 

Deliberately networking with an employee is a great idea.  I actually got my first job out of college that way.  Another favorite technique once I think I may get an offer somewhere is to contact ex-employees through LinkedIn to get the lowdown on any tradeoffs that may not be evident at face value.  Many are happy to be very honest. 

[Libertarian666]

I got laid off during the great tech bust of 2000. My solution, after exhausting all my existing contacts, was to write a program to email a copy of my resume as a response to EVERY job on websites like Monster, Dice, and some others that I forget, so long as it had one of my main skills in it.

I sent out an estimated 10,000 copies, and got two jobs as a result.

[Tortoise]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Great ideas here.

You don't really have the right option that I'm thinking of, which would be "cold" networking with potential future colleagues in the target company you want to work for.
[...]
Just like finance, I don't believe anyone receives truly effective skills for job seeking in school.

I couldn't agree more. Finance, job-seeking, "soft skills" (people skills and professional behavior)... these are critical skills that most schools completely ignore. I always did extremely well in school and graduated with a master's degree from one of the top engineering schools in the country, but when I got into the working world I discovered that setting the curve in an academic course and being "successful" in a real job are often two completely different skills. Often they are even polar opposites, because the goals and challenges in academic courses tend to be very well-structured and everyone is placed on a more or less even playing field. In real jobs, the goals and challenges tend to be much more ambiguous and ill-structured, and the playing field starts out completely uneven and only gets more uneven as time goes by.

I like your idea of "cold" networking.

Yeah, I don't recommend mass resume submissions, either.  It works best when your mark is quite specific and the resume is on-point.

That seems to be my experience as well. The last time I switched jobs, I crafted a specific resume for each company I was interested in, based on the terms and phrases that I saw in that company's relevant job postings. I didn't lie or make anything up; I simply tweaked the wording in my resume to convey the same information, but couched in the specific "language" of that company. Using that approach, I was contacted by several of the companies and got interviews.

Interestingly, though, the job I ended up taking was with a company that I didn't even know existed. They found my resume in a big, general resume database by searching for several specific keywords and phrases. My resume contained all of them, hence I made it through their filter and they contacted me.