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1. Post your resume to http://monster.com, http://dice.com and the rest. Also, post it to the resume section of http://craigslist.org (assuming you live in a city served by Craigslist). This way, recruiters and companies will find you, rather than you having to go after them. (Yes, you'll get some inappropriate jobs from recruiters who aren't so swift, but you can filter them out). 2. Refresh your resume: after posting your resume, you should periodically refresh it--in Craigslist the resume only lasts 30 days, if memory serves and on Monster, you should re-save your resume to update the last-updated date every week or so to push it to the top of the pile (you may need to make some minor alteration to get it to save). (Note: a recruiter told me that they can see the date you first posted your resume, despite this kind of updating, so that if your job search has been going on for a long time, it can make sense to delete the resume and post it from scratch, so you don't look like someone who has been looking a long time unsuccessfully--only one recruiter has told me this, I don't have independent confirmation). 3. Keep looking yourself--don't rely on recruiters to bring things to you--look in the "eng" and "sof" sections of Craigslist for tech jobs that you can respond to (assuming again that there's an appropriate Craigslist for you--or, if you are willing to relocate, check the Craigslists for those locations). Also, use the job meta-search engines, such as http://indeed.com and http://simplyhired.com to save time. And, if there are specialized boards related to what you do, check there (e.g. http://jobs.perl.org) 4. Go to user group meetings, meetups (i.e. look at http://meetup.com), etc. in fields that are of interest to you and talk to people there--social networking in real-life can lead to employment opportunities, esp. since many jobs never get posted anywhere. Also, there are informal social events involving tech people, e.g. in Los Angeles, there's a standing Thursday lunch group in Santa Monica: http://thursdaylunch.com There may be some sort of site keeping track of most of these meetings, e.g. in Los Angeles, there's http://latechcalendar.com/ 5. Real life social networks: - College alumni association: another social network to investigate: your college alumni association. You may be able to search it online to find people involved in relevant areas as you who might be of help. - Cultural/Religious associations: e.g. if you're plugged in to such institutions, someone might be able to help or to refer you to someone who can. 6. Online social networks: The online social networks can be helpful too--http://linkedin.com seems especially relevant here, though no doubt others are too. 7. Expand your search: you might want to look at non-development jobs where your tech skills could come in handy, at least temporarily. E.g. training, teaching, tech support, sales support, etc. Good luck. P.S. It ain't over till it's over: even when you think you may have found something where they like you, etc. until you actually sign on, keep looking--things have a way of falling through sometimes, so don't stop until it's a done deal. |