Has internet blind-sided candidates when it comes to searching for new roles?

With the rise of job boards such as Seek, My Career, CareerOne and social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, there has a been a fall off in candidates using traditional means of finding a new role. In this situation we are largely talking about people with professional qualifications or who work in areas where there is accumulated specialist knowledge.

There was a time when people made extensive use of their networks; for example membership of professional associations or who maintained a relationship with a recruitment firm or key members of their industry, to find their next role. But this type of activity has declined as it has become easier to search and apply for roles on the internet.

This change has created opportunities for the switched on candidate who would like to take a more personal approach to the task of finding a new role. Using the personal approach sure beats the process of listing yourself onto impersonal media such as Job Boards or LinkedIn who are increasingly vacuuming up candidates in an attempt to become giant candidate databases. Additionally, not all of us want our careers and qualifications up and available for perusal by who knows who - 24/7.

So what is the alternative? It can be as simple as talking to people in your own social circle and explaining that you are looking for a new role. In a more structured way, it can involve networking in your professional organisation, going to industry meetings and seminars. Or calling up recruiters who work in your chosen field and asking them for a few moments to explain your situation, or contacting key people who work in your market sector and asking them for career advice. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised that the majority of people can be genuinely helpful when approached in a professional, polite and personal manner.

Moreover taking charge of your future by proactively contacting other people in your job search is more satisfying than passively seeking a role and expecting a piece of electronic software to do the job for you. Some may call this process as a Luddite one, but why abandon all your aspirations for the future, to what are at their core, are money making enterprises. Albeit providing a service for a great many people.

Done properly you can then regard job boards and the like as adjuncts to your search and not your sole means. The old adage about "eggs in one basket" is never truer.