We are picking up where we left off last week and continuing our conversation on where to find your first, or your next job in IT. Last time we discussed using recruiters to bring together candidates with employers who have job opportunities and utilizing tech-focused job boards.

This week we are keeping it old school, which has proven to be the best way for me personally to find quality jobs, as well as find quality talent when I am in need of a new hire. Like many things in your career, your mileage may vary with these options based on your level of experience, the location in which you live, and your willingness to get out there and promote yourself.

Getting Started with Traditional Job Boards

We discussed previously the likes of Dice, Hired, or Stack Overflow Jobs, but I have found a great deal of success finding quality candidates on the local Craigslist. These candidates tend to have more of a personal touch due to the manual nature of applying on a job through Craigslist. There is a job posting, and the candidate sends an email- pretty simple. The difference is that there is no “bulk apply” option that allows the candidate to spam their resume out to hundreds of potential employers. That is a great filter for me when I am looking for a great, long-term employee, and you can set yourself apart by taking a little extra time crafting a decent cover letter.

Once you have identified an opportunity that you would like to pursue, take a little time to research the company. At a minimum take a look at their website, their Facebook, and their Twitter. Use some of the information that they have presented to the public in your cover letter. Has the company been in business for twenty years? Mention how much you would like to work for a company with such a long-standing reputation in the community. Does the staff volunteer with a local organization? Speak to some of your own extra-curricular activities. Build a connection between you and the human being on the other side of the equation who is sifting through hundreds of resumes. Don’t get lost in the [literal] shuffle- stand out.

Craigslist isn’t the only job board, of course, and relying upon it solely during your job search may quickly prove to be a less than successful endeavor. As I mentioned before, Craigslist is a very manual process, and as a result, it is largely manual for the employer. This means that many companies looking for talent will instead go with some more modern offerings like Indeed or Monster since they can quickly post and re-post job openings with little effort- often with automated third-party tools such as Workable.

As much as I tend to find higher quality candidates through other means, Indeed has proven to bring in the highest volume of job seekers. This is good because Indeed casts a very wide net, and it is much easier for job seekers who are preparing to move across country to find jobs in their new locale on the platform than something like Craigslist. It isn’t impossible on Craigslist, but the localized nature of Craigslist can make that task a frustrating one.

If you decide to apply to jobs via Indeed, I would take extra care to prepare an excellent cover letter, and take the time to make a high-quality resume. Don’t settle for Indeed’s standard resume that it spits out. Sometimes it looks fine enough, but most of the time it fails to format properly, and in general, just feels kind of lazy. You are looking for work, aren’t you?

Indeed allows candidates to rapidly apply to many jobs in short order, which is great if you don’t really care where you land, and if the employer doesn’t really care about who you are. There are times when this is perfectly fine, I suppose, but if you are looking to find a place to call home for the next few years, take the time to do some research about the company, craft a personalized message to accompany your resume, and do everything you can to avoid being one of the masses.

Develop Your Professional Network

One cannot deny just how powerful the relationships you build throughout your career will become. When you are going through your normal workday and find yourself in a bind, it pays to know people who can get you out of a pickle with their expertise, and their own connections. This is your professional network, and it is far and away more important than learning about a specific technology or worrying about being the world’s best tech.

The challenge, of course, is that when you’re just getting your career in Information Technology started, you will likely have no professional network to lean on. But that’s OK! Use the other means we’ve discussed so far today and the ones from last week. Just be certain to not miss opportunities to build relationships with people you meet in the industry. As you move throughout your career, you will find more, and better, opportunities from the people you know than any job board or recruiter could possibly provide. Rather than seeking out opportunities, you will find that opportunities will begin to seek you out. That may seem a long way off when you are just getting started, but be sure to waste no time to meet people. Local user groups and industry conferences are a good start, and we’ll talk more about how to leverage these activities for maximum effect soon enough.

Some First-Hand Experience

I have hired and been hired through most of the means we’ve discussed so far. In my role as someone who is responsible for bringing in new technicians, both entry-level and very experienced, I have found that the ones who present themselves with a personal touch have not only been better qualified, but they have been better fits for my teams.

Sure, I’ve interviewed and even hired folks who have only sent me a resume with no accompanying material. That said, I was probably compromising in those cases due to a an acute need to hire, rather than taking the time to find a perfect fit- something that I have instantly regretted.

My advice to you is to not be someone else’s compromise. Find an organization that you want to work for, not only because they pay well, or work with the latest and greatest tech, but because they take care of their employees and have crafted a culture you wish to be a part of. When you reach out to apply for an open position, make mention of all the intangible things you have found and appreciate about the company. You can demonstrate that you know at least something about them before they know anything about you with just a sentence or two. This little bit of effort can be a big differentiator, and the further you can differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, the sooner you will find success in landing that dream job.