Prospective employers finding you (instead of the other way around)

blargoe

I still have my Monster profile that I created when I was looking for my current job (over 3 years ago) and still occasionally get hits from recruiters and in rare cases, the job is something that might would be worth pursuing if I were actively looking.

Since I put my profile on LinkedIn and recently put more professional information about myself, I've gotten a couple of requests in the past month. One was for a hospital which I've been watching for openings for a while. Apparently I matched up against whatever they were looking for and they requested that I send them a resume. That's never happened to me before, straight from an employer. I really want to complete the virtualization of my current company's datacenters and get another several months of solid time on our SAN before I move on (unless the grass is A LOT greener on the other side, if you know what I mean), but I like "being found" so to speak. I wish that position was going to be open about 6-12 months later on, but oh well.

Have any of you had any success in getting jobs to find you, rather than actively using your own time to search? What methods have you found successful? Word of mouth, perhaps?

blargoe

dynamik

I've actually gotten most of my jobs through networking. I've never even had a formal interview.

undomiel

The position I just got was through communicating with the business owner about something back in February, and then in May he got back in contact with me again because of certain skills that I had. The job before that I was tracked down on dice.com. The one before that I actually did find through craigslist. Then the one before that I was called up because of my Monster or Careerbuilder profile. Can't remember exactly which one. If I was any good at networking I most likely would have found something a lot sooner, so that's definitely the best route.

Getting called up is generally good, except in a few rare cases. I can think of a specific one that really pissed me off. Got called up by a consulting company looking to place someone with a client of theirs. Went through two phone interviews and they were absolutely raving about me. So I went in for a face to face with their client. Complete reversal. They asked about obscure proprietary technology A, obscure proprietary technology B, shook my hand and showed me the door. I had been prepped on absolutely none of that beforehand, not a word mentioned. So it isn't always roses, but they can be worth pursuing.

mikedisd2

I've managed to grab a few positions (my current job) through ppl I know. I have found work experience in the earlier days to be very effective. People like to hire someone they have already met and built up some trust with.
Jobs are alot harder to find now and I am currently considering just spamming my resume to large companies. Anyone know if that ever works or are unsolicited resumes just tossed onto a pile (bin?) and ignored?

Psoasman

I have gotten my last 2 IT jobs through networking. I had to interview, but the only way I wouldn't get hired would be to not show up for them.

LTParis

Networking is always key if you have the contacts. Otherwise I have had a bit of success with dice.com to get mostly recruiters but sometimes direct jobs to contact me.