As a very active job seeker I find myself sending connection requests to fellow LinkedIn members asking for help. Most of the time I need help connecting with hiring managers to get my foot in the door. And one of the things I have learned is that you have to offer up your help to others as well. Easier said than done for sure. I've started sending job leads from recruiters to my connections that are also seeking a position. I answer as many questions as I can and start discussions in my groups to show I am an active participant.
So, in an attempt to really help others I want to list out some of my favorite recruiters and job search websites. My hope is that I can do for others what I hope they can do for me.
Of all the job search websites I prefer InDeed.com. This is mainly due to the ease and accuracy of the job alerts. I have signed up to receive an email everyday with jobs that match my selected criteria. I have been sure to include the terms that I don't want. I've found that because the term marketing is an umbrella term for so many positions and is included in the job descriptions of so many listings that excluding certain terms keeps me from getting jobs that I would never be interested in.
Of course I am on CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com as most job seekers are. The job alerts from CareerBuilder usually include positions for sales as well as entry level positions. I don't ask Monster to send alerts because it is too repetitive of the jobs I am already getting.
I have received a few emails and calls from recruiters from CareerBuilder and that is great. At one time I actually paid for Marketing Ladder.com and was terribly disappointed. It was expensive and after some time I realized it was a recruiter database. The worst part was positions I would apply for I would also find on the free sites. I had been told that the staff would review your resume and let you know if you had the right experience to be included on their site. It was supposed to be exclusive to upper level management. They actually had commercials during the Superbowl one year touting the exclusivity of the site.
I really like to look at LinkedIn for positions because I can send my profile along with my resume. Unfortunately, many of the groups have started listing jobs in the group pages and those are much more cumbersome to sift through. There is no way to search through the listings for positions in your area or by job title. I'd like to see LinkedIn change that.
A really big tip is signing up with the temp/placement agencies. Most of my interviews and job leads have been from a recruiter. I have had varying results from these companies. What I really appreciate is that they return calls, emails and are never rude.
Here is a list of sites/companies to sign up with. If you want an actual contact, leave a comment and I'll get the contact information for you.
Note: I am in marketing/advertising and some of the companies specialize in my industry.