Some words of warning: While postings can connect you with a prospective employer, they shouldn't be regarded as a reliable source of information. To begin with, don't start off immediately believing the job description. The responsibilities of the job may be inflated or some important job function may be omitted. When you go into an interview obtained because you responded to a posting, forget the posting and conduct the interview as if you know little about the job and must learn as much as you possibly can. Of course, you should still have done some background research about the company, if not the job, so you can use it to impress the interviewer with your interest.
Also note that the fact that few postings are accurately written or descriptive of the job means that you can pretty safely answer ads even if you don't exactly fit all the qualifications.
Blind postings, where the prospective employer is vaguely identified, are usually a waste of time and are sometimes downright harmful. Your resume sent in response to a blind posting may well land on the wrong person's desk or on the desk of someone who isn't discreet enough to respect your need for confidentiality. Answering the wrong blind posting may result in the news of your job hunt being blasted to your entire professional world--or worse, being whispered to your present employer.
A less important reason to bypass blind postings is that you often don't get a response anyway, so they are ultimately wasted effort. This is partly because of the motives of the company running a blind posting. There may be good reasons behind a blind posting, but more often than not, a company is on a fishing expedition ("Let's see who's looking for a job these days"), attempting to weed out minorities and women, or is in the process of raking an employee over the coals by seeking a replacement for him without first telling him or firing him. Companies that resort to blind postings also may be obsessed with secrecy.
Admittedly, some good companies use blind postings, but often their postings are written in such a way that you can read between the lines and figure out who they are anyway. Those are the blind postings you might consider answering.
"When we're developing clients, if we see an article on the chemical industry, we'll clip that article and send it along to someone we know at a chemical company we would like to do a placement for. A would-be candidate can do the same thing with a recruiter. Make a note of a posting and send it with a note saying that you thought the recruiter might be interested. Next time, you can say to them, 'By the way, here's my resume. I'm not looking and don't want anything right now, but down the road, who knows?'"
John Foster at Boyden Associates, Incorporated, an executive search firm, reports that most firms will make an effort to interview someone who sends a resume and is highly placed even if there isn't a job at the time.
Cultivating a headhunter is only the first step, though. You also have to know how to deal with them when they actually come knocking at your door.
The headhunter’s good side: they won't squander their power on someone unless they think that person is worth the effort.
Use your contacts as much as possible. Ideally, contacts should be cultivated long before you start to job hunt. Keeping in touch with them should be an ongoing process. Let your ex-bosses and ex-colleagues know what you're doing professionally. Keep in touch with professors and academic deans who might have the power to help you. Use holiday cards, an occasional phone call, or the publication of an article or book as occasions to update these professional friends on your life. If you court your contacts properly, they will always be ready to help you.
The ultimate way to be sure that a contact will help you, of course, is to have helped him in the past. If someone owes you a favor, you're much more likely to get a favor back when you need it.
See the following articles for more information:
- How to Start on the Right Foot in Your New Job
- What Are the Sources to Find the Information You Need
- The Background of Application Process
- How to Network and Take an Information Interview
