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They say when you're out of a job, your full-time work IS finding a job. Boy, is that the truth! Those of you who have been on the search are all too familiar.

The minimal standard in looking for work is posting your resume on the major job boards and setting up searches there with parameters that match your skills and needs. No biggie. You spend some time filling in the info that is already in your resume into their templates -- and still you'll copy and paste your entire cover letter and resume. Smart auto-fill-in templates still need some tweaking and in many instances the transferred resume needs realignment.

And you go through this on every job board you want to be on. Major ones and industry/skill specific job board sites. Have you googled that lately? The choices are aplenty when you get industry specific: engineering, medical, etc... It will take a lot of time to "get started". But it will be worth it right? It's a streamlined way of finding job listings. Great! When a promising one appears, I'll click on "apply" and should be able to just tweak my resume and cover letter on the major board and shoot it off, right?

No. The principal job board links you to another job board -- maybe it's that of the company who has the opening. It could also be another job board that has the listing. And guess what? In either case, they don't have all that minutiae you spent hours filling-in on those other templates.

You have to fill out their own version of those same templates and yet again past your resume and cover letter and tweak again. Now think of how many job postings you are averaging before you get a bite to have an interview in some fashion (email, phone, dare I say, in person?). No idea? I'll bet its a few dozens, if not over a hundred, at the very least. This for the end result that your application will go into a black hole, with the smallest of probabilities that you'll ever hear more of a follow-up then an auto-reply confirming "we've received your resume....and will contact you if there is a match....".

I get the feeling those major job boards are having me give them all my 411 -- more for their benefit than mine. Certainly some programmers can stop the redundancy -- and make their sites a happier place to go through. No?

No wonder your best bet for the next job is your personal network. See my first post for my experience on that front.

Ok. So this post is a total buzzkill, but if I can't vent...uh, I mean provide a "personal perspective" on the subject, then 'what's it all about Alfie?'

I'll try to come back when I have some wisdom to spread or something hopeful, motivational, positive, an uplifting story, an anecdote,...all that jazz.

Cheerio for now!