Get a Job: The Craigslist Experiment

[halocog]

Like so many other job-hunters, writer Eric K. Auld used Craigslist as a resource. Curious to know what he was up against and to gain a better understanding of the employment landscape, Eric posted a false job listing. In a day, he'd received more than 650 responses.

Link

Some serious food for thought for people in the U.S. However, I got my job on Craigslist. So it's definitely possible.

[angrylollipop]

I found my job on twitter

[GoVegan]

I have talked to 2 different handymen so far who have received lots of work through craigslist. 1 of them was a licensed contractor who decided small jobs are very lucrative and much less of a headache. Craigslist can be very beneficial if you are in the skilled trades especially if you are reliable and care about your work.

[Ansel]

I loved Craigslist when i was in the SF bay area going back 10 years.

[Skell18]

I loved Craigslist when i was in the SF bay area going back 10 years.

Thats where thrash metal came from How I would have loved to have been there during that time!

[Ansel]

Thats where thrash metal came from How I would have loved to have been there during that time!

What SF bay area? Go there now - i'm sure it's still great. I love San Francisco bay area.

[Skell18]

What SF bay area? Go there now - i'm sure it's still great. I love San Francisco bay area.

I have been before, love the place, but in the 80s and 90s thats where thrash metal was born! Would have loved to have seen the original Metallica lineup with Dave Mustaine and then the early Megadeth shows.

[Ansel]

Faith No More were from there too i think.

[Skell18]

Faith No More were from there too i think.

They were! Love FNM!

[Ansel]

My best mate was into FNM. I was into Guns and Roses lol

[Skell18]

My best mate was into FNM. I was into Guns and Roses lol

Both are good, I thought FNM more more raw sounding but like both :-P

[devilock76]

I am a craigslist addict. I scan it several times a day to pick up last minute gigs and deals. In this economy the internet vultures circle it, and the quick get the bacon.

However for job hunting I would definitely recommend spending time on your linkedin profile as well.

Ken

[truthwolf1]

I found my last job on craigslist in 2006 and had went on two interviews with different places previous to that.

That would be the first place I would look in starting over but the best is finding a head hunter or pesking all of your friends with a resume to forward to their company's HR.

Temp agencies also are good but all the initial testing can be a big pain in the ass. Most of it you would not even use in the job you will be temping for.

Monster, Career builder, Hot jobs if that is still around never amounted to anything but a complete waste of time. Not to say they are useless but I found they had way too much traffic to ever be noticed.

I also applied to some big corps through their own websites but I have a bad driving record which strikes me out from ever working for them ever again.

Worked for Microsoft as a perma-temp in the late 90's early 00. Best job I ever had but Bill always changes his mind and sold us off.

[sgreger1]

I found my last job on craigslist in 2006 and had went on two interviews with different places previous to that.

That would be the first place I would look in starting over but the best is finding a head hunter or pesking all of your friends with a resume to forward to their company's HR.

Temp agencies also are good but all the initial testing can be a big pain in the ass. Most of it you would not even use in the job you will be temping for.

Monster, Career builder, Hot jobs if that is still around never amounted to anything but a complete waste of time. Not to say they are useless but I found they had way too much traffic to ever be noticed.

I also applied to some big corps through their own websites but I have a bad driving record which strikes me out from ever working for them ever again.

Worked for Microsoft as a perma-temp in the late 90's early 00. Best job I ever had but Bill always changes his mind and sold us off.

Microsoft got sued in a famous class action suit for having "perma-temps". Because of those bastards most companies won't let you temp for more than a year or so, because the Microsoft court case set the precident that if you work there for a certain period of time, even in a temporary capacity, that you constituted an employee and that they owed you all the benefits etc that employees get.

I remember my second temp job got terminated because of this, I worker for over a year and they said I had reached my time limit. Luckily I was able to convince them to hire me on full time, but if the opening had not been available I would have been let go just due to their fear of litigation.


As far as job searches, my wife got job offers from craigslist, but I think linkedIn is probably ones best bet. The Monster.com's are useless and they just spam the shit out of you forever. If you post a job on Monster you will get a million applicants. Even more frustrating, studies show that at least half the people are applying just so they can maintain their unemployment benefits, which requires that you at least apply to places. So many people who are offered the jobs don't actually end up taking it if it is a job that pays around what UI pays.

I feel really bad for the unemployed right now, an environment wherein you are competing with 600 people for any given position is just terrible. It's all about who you know, my best advice to people looking for work is to find people already within companies who will refer you for positions. I am applying somewhere right now and I am almost sure to get in because 90% of new hires at this company come via referrals. Even though I am clearly less qualified than other applicants, they are more likely to hire me because I know someone who can vouch for me. As an employer this is crucial because many times people have great resumes but then they are terrible employees. Having someone who you trust say "Hey, you can trust this guy too", is worth more than almost anything else to many employers, ESPECIALLY for a hiring manager who has 600 freaking applications to dig through (Hint: They aren't going to look at them all). So if they can just go straight to someone who an existing employee trusts than it makes it easier for everyone and it's more likely to have a positive outcome in the long run anyways.

Networking is always key. Join toastmasters, do whatever you need to do to network with people who are in mid management etc (those in charge of hiring or who may have previously supervised others who later went on to become managers etc). Just spamming your resume on websites just won't cut it in today's market most of the time.

[devilock76]

Microsoft got sued in a famous class action suit for having "perma-temps". Because of those bastards most companies won't let you temp for more than a year or so, because the Microsoft court case set the precident that if you work there for a certain period of time, even in a temporary capacity, that you constituted an employee and that they owed you all the benefits etc that employees get.

I remember my second temp job got terminated because of this, I worker for over a year and they said I had reached my time limit. Luckily I was able to convince them to hire me on full time, but if the opening had not been available I would have been let go just due to their fear of litigation.


As far as job searches, my wife got job offers from craigslist, but I think linkedIn is probably ones best bet. The Monster.com's are useless and they just spam the shit out of you forever. If you post a job on Monster you will get a million applicants. Even more frustrating, studies show that at least half the people are applying just so they can maintain their unemployment benefits, which requires that you at least apply to places. So many people who are offered the jobs don't actually end up taking it if it is a job that pays around what UI pays.

I feel really bad for the unemployed right now, an environment wherein you are competing with 600 people for any given position is just terrible. It's all about who you know, my best advice to people looking for work is to find people already within companies who will refer you for positions. I am applying somewhere right now and I am almost sure to get in because 90% of new hires at this company come via referrals. Even though I am clearly less qualified than other applicants, they are more likely to hire me because I know someone who can vouch for me. As an employer this is crucial because many times people have great resumes but then they are terrible employees. Having someone who you trust say "Hey, you can trust this guy too", is worth more than almost anything else to many employers, ESPECIALLY for a hiring manager who has 600 freaking applications to dig through (Hint: They aren't going to look at them all). So if they can just go straight to someone who an existing employee trusts than it makes it easier for everyone and it's more likely to have a positive outcome in the long run anyways.

Networking is always key. Join toastmasters, do whatever you need to do to network with people who are in mid management etc (those in charge of hiring or who may have previously supervised others who later went on to become managers etc). Just spamming your resume on websites just won't cut it in today's market most of the time.

Seconding the who you know and adding to that set yourself apart. For example a web resume, even a video resume, that extra step that can make a difference that makes you noticeable even if your job has nothing to do with video or web.

Ken