How Has Job Hunting Changed in The Last Ten Years

How Has Job Hunting Changed in The Last Ten Years The Internet has changed a lot about our world in the last ten years-including how we look for jobs. The basics may be the same: the old finding an opening and applying for it, but the internet has completely revolutionized the employment process. With more than 9% unemployed, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, many people are going to be using every single tool at their disposal to find their next employment opportunity. Networking has been the traditional way to find a job, but over the last ten years this has changed to social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. These sites  are now the second-most effective tool in your job-hunting arsenal, according to job placement firms. Searching for jobs at trade fairs or by looking through newspaper classifieds has long been replaced by the internet. Its not about the old school anymore, todays job seekers have to be on the web to find a job. Social networking sites have exploded with popularity, people look to connect with old friends, loved ones and business partners alike, so there is always opportunity to meet someone with a job offer online. Facebook has over 500 million users worldwide, Twitters traffic has increased exponentially in the last year and LinkedIn, despite not being as robust as the other social media options, is perhaps the most useful of any social networking site when it comes to actual job hunting. LinkedIns traffic has nearly doubled in the past year, thanks to its usefulness as an employer posting site and networking capabilities. You all know how I feel about LinkedIn. Employment posting sites have been popular over the last decade as well. There are a lot of options out there for these sites and many are household names. Job posters look for these sites because they know prospective employees are going to frequent them in hopes of finding something. These sites experienced great growth early in the decade but social media sites and other factors have contributed to a loss of traffic. One of the factors in the decline of job posting sites has been the boom of Craigslist. Craigslist is a privately held company that specializes in free internet postings. Its basically like an online classified section for the internet, users can post jobs or even garage sales. Much of Craigslists earnings come from job postings, Craigslists success has meant tough times for the newspaper industry. Total revenue from classified listings for newspapers has fallen by as much as 42.5% in 2008 to just $2.2 billion, which makes it the worst drop in the history of the industry. The internet is definitely where people look for jobs, but the ease at which prospective employees can send out resumes has made it tough for HR managers. They have to sift through a huge pile of resumes to find the right candidate and with jobs scarce at the moment, it can be hard to get through the clutter. People who rely on one method for their job search will find it much more difficult to find employment than others.