Let's face it - there aren't a lot of fresh job search ideas out there. Most recruiters and HR people are
doing the best job they can to drive traffic to their postings - via corporate employment site branding, the job boards via Monster and CareerBuilder and niche sites like Dice, and if they are really frisky, via social networking sites like LinkedIn and Jobster. That's about it in terms of driving traffic, and most recruiters have resigned themselves to the fact that they have to deal with the volume generated to get the quality candidates... As a candidate, you have to use the normal tools to be a part of the cattle call....
One fresh idea that I thought everyone would know about, but it seems no one does, is Craigslist. Craigslist is a centralized network of online urban communities, featuring free classified advertisements (with jobs, housing, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, gigs and resumes categories) and forums sorted by various topics.
It was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark. After incorporation in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more cities in 2000 (all of them in the U.S.), four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003. As of November 2006, Craigslist had established itself in approximately 450 cities all over the world. As of 2007, Craigslist operates with a staff of 23 people.
Craigslist allows employers to post jobs, mostly for free (unless you are in SF, LA or NYC), and the traffic driven to the site is decidedly tech savvy. Perfect for a software company like SourceMedical. My experience as a recruiter using Craigslist is that some markets are very hot (Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta and Dallas have always worked well for me), while others are fairly slow. Additionally the tech and training/education segments have worked the best for me in those markets that show a lot of activity. I've made 7 hires off Craigslist that I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere in 2006, and I plan to be a good bit more disciplined in my approach in 2007. You should try it as a candidate as well - Expect a good bit more junk jobs than you would find within a monster, but generally speaking you'll find many tech savvy companies and recruiters hanging out there...
Finally, here's a golden tool to help you get the edge - A CraigsList RSS tool that allows you to set up feeds for your preferred searches on Craigslist and have them delivered to your e-mail box. Selecting a feed is very simple; you just search and select it. There’s no software to play with or confusing feed code. Plus you get it right into your inbox for easy access every 6-12 hours.
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