True or False?
- The Internet is the single, best avenue to find a job in today’s job market.
- Posting your resume online is a great way to ensure lots of job offers.
- The Internet has become such a popular tool that most employers post their positions online as soon as they become available.
- Nearly every profession has ONE best website that will contain every pertinent job opportunity for that field.
- I personally know someone who was hired as a result of an Internet match.
Let’s see how you did…
#1. The Internet is the single, best avenue to find a job in today’s job market. If you follow this column regularly, you’ll know that the term “networking” appears in nearly every article. That’s because most career counselors and consultants agree that networking techniques yield more and better opportunities than any other single job search method. Richard N. Bolles, regarded by most in the field as a “guru” of career development, states on his website (www.jobhuntersbible.com, which, incidentally, is a great resource for job seekers who want to use the Internet in their search) that only about 10% of all job seekers find employment via the Internet. That’s not to say that utilizing the Internet is a bad idea. Ten percent is still significant, and the Internet is hard to beat as a research tool. BUT networking and direct application is still the best approach. (The answer is FALSE.)
#2. Posting your resume online is a great way to ensure lots of job offers. Actually, the purpose of a resume is to get interviews. You should probably be a little suspicious of anyone who offers you a counseling job (or any job, for that matter), sight unseen, on the basis of a resume alone. Furthermore, in this day of identity theft, you need to be wary of WHERE you are posting your resume. Make certain it’s a secure site (if the web address starts out with https://, that’s a good clue), and have some sense of WHO will be searching the site and HOW they will access the information. (FALSE)
#3. The Internet has become such a popular tool that most employers post their positions online as soon as they become available. A LOT of communication DOES occur over the Internet, and there certainly are many positions posted on the websites of the big market players (www.CareerBuilder.com, www.Monster.com, etc.). What you need to understand, though, is that those job boards are in business to make money. The advertising fees that are charged to the companies posting positions can be significant, and often cost-prohibitive, for many of the budget-restricted agencies that hire counselors. Because of this, not every position is posted on every (or even ANY) of the big-name boards. Many jobs are posted on company- or agency-hosted websites…IF they have them. The best way to find those jobs is through a keyword search on multiple search engines. (FALSE)
#4. Nearly every profession has ONE best website that will contain every pertinent job opportunity for that field. This is akin to saying that ONE theorist holds all the answers to managing the mental health care of every client. Even if this statement were true, there will always be renegades and free thinkers who will try something new, and one of them will come up with something better. That’s Capitalism at work. (FALSE)
#5. I personally know someone who was hired as a result of an Internet match. Most people do. If the Internet wasn’t effective as a job search/recruiting tool, its use would cease for this purpose. Those who get results with an Internet search are doing more, though, than posting a resume and waiting for the phone to ring (or, more appropriately, for an e-mail to pop up). (TRUE or FALSE, depending on your circle of friends.)
Not everyone seeking a job will be hired through the Internet. (After all, not even Al Gore has acquired the job HE wanted via the web, and he invented the darn thing!) In this, the (Too Much) Information Age, follow-up and networking (there’s that word again!) are crucial components to an Internet-based job search.
Finding the right listings
There are many on-line sites that promise lots of job listings and deliver the numbers to support their claims. The problem is finding appropriate job listings. Usually, a keyword search yields the best matches, but it is important to use the RIGHT keywords.
As an experiment, I used the keyword “counselor” to search two of the best-known on-line job boards. The first search returned 160 pages of hits, but most of the positions listed on the first page were “sales counselors” for a national weight loss chain. The second board yielded similar results, with many sales representative positions masquerading as “counselors” of one sort or another.
Using the keyword “counseling” also produced voluminous results, but, at least on the first site, the top entries seemed to be more appropriate to the profession. Still, plenty of unrelated positions surfaced.
“Mental health,” “mental health counselor,” “therapist,” and “LPC” were used as keywords in subsequent searches. Predictably, “therapist” pulled occupational and physical therapist positions to the top of the lists on both sites, but still yielded large numbers of positions. “Mental Health Counselor” (without quotation marks) produced mostly relevant listings (8 pp. and 26 positions, respectively), but eliminated a number of appropriate positions.
Overall, “LPC” pulled the greatest number of relevant listings (27 pages and 118 jobs, respectively), but searching with this term has its own inherent problems. On close examination, LPC was a proprietary acronym for one organization that was completely unrelated to the profession. The bigger issue, though, is that “LPC” is not the preferred term for licensed counselors in all states. This is a particularly cogent point for candidates who are conducting a national search. One implication is that national organizations targeting candidates in a specific territory may advertise for the “wrong” license, and when they do, candidates who are searching for the “right” license may not find the position.
Related to this is that counselors may not be specified in job titles of positions that are appropriate for the profession. One issue that members of ACA’s Professional Affairs team have noted as we’ve explored on-line resources is that many positions that are listed when searching for “LPC” have a job title that doesn’t include the word “counselor.”
So, what strategies should you employ, given this information?
Search with a number of different keywords or keyword combinations. You may need to experiment to find the right combination of words or phrases that targets positions that would be the best fit for you.
Look at more than one Big Board site. It’s unlikely that every job will be posted on every board, given limited advertising budgets. And don’t limit yourself to the BIG boards. There are plenty of smaller sites with job postings that may be more relevant. (ACA, for example, posts counseling positions that are advertised in Counseling Today online, and there are always some advertisers who choose to do an online-only posting.)
Don’t unwittingly eliminate great opportunities. If you are too narrow in your focus, you may miss the “perfect” position.
Read job descriptions. What are some common requirements? Is there anything new that you are seeing consistently? If you have special skills that qualify you for this, make sure these skills are specified on your resume.
Ignore the job title….if the job description is appropriate for your search. Just because a job is titled “Social Worker” doesn’t mean a counselor isn’t qualified or shouldn’t apply. Advocate for the profession by applying and educating the human resources professionals who put the advertisement together about the training and qualifications of professional counselors.
Look for trends. Who is hiring? What positions have they advertised? What special skills are they seeking? Note names, addresses and phone numbers of hiring authorities in organizations that are advertising positions, even if they aren’t currently seeking individuals with your qualifications. These are excellent contacts for information interviews and networking meetings!
On-line applications
Once you have found positions in which you have interest, here are some reminders for your application:
Follow the directions for application outlined in the advertisement. Think of this as your first real test with this employer.
Proofread submitted materials carefully. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar always count…even if you’re submitting an application on-line. Double-check to make certain your e-mail address and phone number are correct.
Make your materials scannable. The easier it is for an employer to find the information he or she is looking for on your resume, the more likely it is that you’ll be screened into the finalists pile.
Use key words. Many organizations use scanning technology now to review applications. If specific terms and words are used in the advertisement to which you are responding, make certain that those words show up in your cover letter and resume. Some people have effectively employed a “Key Word” category in the body of their resumes, listing every term (theory, technique, etc.) imaginable. This can be particularly helpful to candidates who post their resumes on a job board, as they can be picked up in key word searches by employers using the site.
Cut and paste your resume for on-line applications. Make certain to use the correct formatting codes when you create your resume, or you could have a real mess on your hands when you paste.
Follow up. Check the status of your application. Showing interest in the position can yield interest in you on the part of the employer.
Use other resources. While the Internet is a wonderful tool in a job search, beware of using it exclusively. Networking and direct contact are still the most effective methods of finding a job.