If you have a professional network, that is by far the best method to find a good job that you might like. Otherwise, recruiters, LinkedIn, and indeed are pretty much it.
I've found my last few IT jobs through temp agencies doing temp to hire contracts. My company also does most of it's hiring through similar agencies, especially for developers and we seem to attract decent talent. Avoid Robert Half like the plague though
The IT places I've worked at all advertised almost exclusively through LinkedIn, to the point where it hurt them (e.g., they needed the kind of staff that typically won't have a LinkedIn profile, yet refused to hire through our local Indeed equivalent). Off topic, but I went through the process as a team lead looking for a new team member, and what it got me was a mediocre new hire and a very low opinion of our recruiters.
By far the most hires seem to happen through networking/references/word of mouth though. It's all about making sure that people know that you're skilled, reliable, and available.
Up until recently, I worked for a staffing company as a data analyst, and had some really entertaining insight into the chaos behind the modern hiring process, including what ATS's are doing, how matching algorithms work (or don't), and how strong candidates are floated to the top. Tl;dr: Basically it's a huge shitshow and luck is a massive part of the process. And now that we're seeing 1200+ candidates applying for roles on LinkedIn, it's even moreso.
Your resume has to be tailored to the job posting. Don't lie, but be sure to hit as many beats as possible regarding their need & nice-to-haves.
On the 1200+ candidates: these numbers are inflated. I could tell with our LinkedIn posts that we'd have maybe half of what LinkedIn would show on the posting page, which is silly because it discourages people from posting.
Of those, easily 70% of the candidates are simply non-viable. Resumes/cover letters are covered in typos, there's no relevant work experience, or it's just someone applying because they have to because of unemployment requirements.
That still leaves dozens of highly-qualified candidates, many with very good pedigrees due to tech industry layoffs this year
So yeah, networking. Over the past few months, I've applied to about 20 positions I was pretty well qualified for, using what I know about hiring practices and how skillmatching data works behind the scenes, and of those, I received a total of zero interviews. Of the positions where I had an inside referral, I've gotten interviews for 3 out of 4.
The career websites are pretty much useless. I recently signed up on Indeed and instantly started getting spam emails and phone calls. Seems like it's just another data collection company. I really wish the Internet had more than one business model.
If you want to vet a company, one thing you can do is find former employees on LinkedIn and send them a polite message. Most people are happy to tell you what they think about their time there.
If you have a professional network, that is by far the best method to find a good job that you might like. Otherwise, recruiters, LinkedIn, and indeed are pretty much it.
In my experience, recruiters. Do whatever you can to attract recruiters.
Network with recruiters, follow them on Linkedin, tailor your linkedin to recruiters, and tailor your resume to recruiters.
I've found my last few IT jobs through temp agencies doing temp to hire contracts. My company also does most of it's hiring through similar agencies, especially for developers and we seem to attract decent talent. Avoid Robert Half like the plague though
The IT places I've worked at all advertised almost exclusively through LinkedIn, to the point where it hurt them (e.g., they needed the kind of staff that typically won't have a LinkedIn profile, yet refused to hire through our local Indeed equivalent). Off topic, but I went through the process as a team lead looking for a new team member, and what it got me was a mediocre new hire and a very low opinion of our recruiters.
By far the most hires seem to happen through networking/references/word of mouth though. It's all about making sure that people know that you're skilled, reliable, and available.
Networking by a country mile.
Up until recently, I worked for a staffing company as a data analyst, and had some really entertaining insight into the chaos behind the modern hiring process, including what ATS's are doing, how matching algorithms work (or don't), and how strong candidates are floated to the top. Tl;dr: Basically it's a huge shitshow and luck is a massive part of the process. And now that we're seeing 1200+ candidates applying for roles on LinkedIn, it's even moreso.
So yeah, networking. Over the past few months, I've applied to about 20 positions I was pretty well qualified for, using what I know about hiring practices and how skillmatching data works behind the scenes, and of those, I received a total of zero interviews. Of the positions where I had an inside referral, I've gotten interviews for 3 out of 4.
The career websites are pretty much useless. I recently signed up on Indeed and instantly started getting spam emails and phone calls. Seems like it's just another data collection company. I really wish the Internet had more than one business model.
If you want to vet a company, one thing you can do is find former employees on LinkedIn and send them a polite message. Most people are happy to tell you what they think about their time there.