Using "Push Technology" in Your Career Management

Whether engaging in an aggressive job search or electing to stay with your current employer (but wish to remain alert to new possibilities), “push technology” (automated delivery of information) is a tool worth exploring.  During a recent interview, Beth Kniss, Kniss Career Research, agreed to share knowledge and tips regarding job search engines for our IACMP website.  Organizations with internal career development programs as well as firms that provide career transition services utilize Beth’s services. – Darlene Davis

Taking the 15-20 minutes to set up a Job Search Agent at some of these sites can ensure a regular flow of potential opportunities, and help you maximize your career options.

By Beth Kniss

Job Search Agents go by many names including Job Agents, Job Hunters, Job Seek Agents, Jobs by Email, Personal Job Shoppers, Job Finders, and Job Scouts.  Regardless of the name, Job Search Agents all basically perform the same task – they continually look for jobs based upon specified criteria, and notify the job seeker when matching jobs are found.   The majority of the larger, more well-known career sites offer Job Search Agents and many of the smaller niche sites (sites focusing on a particular industry or function) offer them as well.

Precious time  - this is what Job Search Agents save the passive job seeker.  Instead of having to regularly remember to visit sites such as Monster.com, Headhunter.net, and Hotjobs.com to look for new jobs, you simply can visit these sites once.  Enter your job search criteria in their Job Search Agent and you will begin to receive emails from these sites notifying you of new jobs matching your criteria.  No one knows about this great little agent, except you and the site where you set up the agent.  Your current employer won’t have access to this information.

In many cases you will need to “register” with the site to establish a Job Search Agent.  This typically is a 2-3 minute process where you give the site some basic demographic data. Some sites require you to submit your resume before you can set up Job Search Agents.  You are not required to publicly post your resume on their site for companies and search agencies to find.  Instead your resume sits at their site in the event you wish to apply for a job through their site, or you decide to post it publicly in their resume database at a future point in time.

Do these Job Search Agents all perform the same way?  The answer is no.  The very best agents actually email you the matching jobs right in an email message.  Typically they provide you with the job title and a link that will bring you to the complete description for each matching job.  CareerJournal.com, Headhunter.net, Flipdog.com, Nationjob, Salary.com, Net-temps.com all work this way.  Others offer less efficient ways of notification which typically involve sending you an email letting you know that new jobs have entered their database which match your criteria.  You then actually have to go to their site and log into your account, then run the search, which has been saved in your account.  This is a more time consuming process.  Monster.com has their agent set up this way.

Most sites let you decide how often you wish to be notified by email of matching jobs.  Typical options are daily, or every 3, 7, 14 or 30 days.  The advantage of a daily notification is that you learn of new jobs as soon as they appear on a career site – giving you the ability to be one of the first applicants.  The disadvantage of a daily notification is that you may get annoyed continually getting emails from these sites, and they often repeat the same jobs they have sent you previously (Headhunter.net is notorious for this). Some sites simply email you when they have matching jobs.  The downside to this is that you may not hear for several weeks from the site, which leaves you wondering if the agent is working properly.  Nationjob.com is one site that does this.

Most sites let you set up more than one Job Search Agent.  Entering a job title in the Keywords criteria is one of the best ways to set up an agent.  If the titles of the jobs you are seeking vary, it is best to set up a separate agent for each title.  For example, if you are seeking a Vice President’s position, set up one agent using “Vice President” (include the quotation marks) in the keywords box, and a second agent using VP (no quotation marks) in the keywords box.  Then you are assured of finding jobs entered in the database both ways.

Which are the most effective Job Search Agents?  For getting the best quality matches (the Job Search Agent actually finds jobs exactly matching your criteria), CareerJournal.com, America’s Job Bank and NationJob.com’s PJ Scout are among the best.  Others, which locate decent job matches are Monster.com and Flipdog.com.  They do, however, source many jobs that don’t match the criteria.  They tend to source jobs which are related to the job you may be seeking.  The reason they are sourced is because their description contains the keywords for the job you are seeking.  Other top sites offering Job Search Agents are Hotjobs.com, Headhunter.net, Careershop.com, Net-temps.com, Salary.com, Vault.com, Careerexchange.com, Careermag.com, Joboptions.com, Jobbankusa.com and Truecareers.com.

Beth can be reached by e-mail:  bkniss@knisscareerresearch.com