Personnel File - Applying to Jobs Over the Internet

The Internet has become an important tool in the job market. Our recent survey of human capital issues facing the real estate industry showed that employers rate it second after referrals as their most important source of candidates. Employers find it a convenient and low-cost way to publicize job opportunities, while job hunters get to see a wider variety of jobs and are able to apply to them relatively easily.

However this convenience comes at a price, because it tempts job hunters into carelessness and a blanket approach to job hunting that ultimately hurts their chances of finding the right position. Job seekers need to remember that the same convenience that enabled them to apply for a particular job probably enabled several hundred other people to apply for it as well. We have seen jobs that attract two to three hundred applications within a month. It is therefore more important than ever to be distinctive. Unfortunately, many people do exactly the opposite. Following is some advice for internet job hunters:

Don’t apply to everything. Some candidates seem to apply to every job they see. It is a shame they don’t think about the impression they make by applying within the same week for a senior financial controller-position and a construction-manager position. The only sure thing is that a recruiter won’t bother to call the candidate back for either.