My Brother's Job Search

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a great professional networking site. It's free (there's a premiere version which costs but that's not necessary). His profile should resemble his resume - he can search others with similar backgrounds for ideas. He should start connecting with former colleagues and friends plus join some appropriate LinkedIn groups (again - check groups like professionals have joined) and actively network within those groups. They also have job postings in the JOB section as well as in the groups. Recruiters actively network on this site, as do hiring managers.

My hubby is currently searching for a job after being laid off 3 weeks ago. He has been doing the occasional Monster and career builder search. Also he looks through Craigslist which surprisingly has had the most feed back. We have had some great success through recruiters for two previous positions but sometimes things get dicey with the pay negotiations as it goes through the recruiter and they want to get paid so they tend to work more for the employer than employee. Directly going to website of corporations and looking at the career section usually lists what they have to offer. Good luck to him hope he finds something soon.

I have all my good luck using Craigslist. I"ve had several friends that said Craigslist only worked for them also.

What about cold calling local insurance offices? Not all places apply online. It wouldn't hurt to try.

I work as a career consultant for an outplacement company. If your brother doesn't have a profile on www.LinkedIn.com I recommend he build one. 80% of jobs are landed through connections with people. The advantage to LinkedIn is that it can help find people to meet and to network with.

After he has a profile, he can build a connection list of business contacts, and join appropriate groups. 90+% of companies use LinkedIn to search for qualified people to interview. Most recruiters will check LinkedIn to review a candidate's background.

Your brother can look up companies on LinkedIn and it will show him people who work there. This opens up the potential of meeting real people during his job search.

Has he set up a linked in profile for networking? That is a great resource right there. He can also join his city's chamber of commerce networking group.

Also, my church employment program offers free return to work counseling. They cover everything from resumes, cover letters, power statements, interview helps, networking ideas. They can also help offer advice on how to brush up on skills and network. There is no pressure to attend the church at all. If interested, he can find a location near him here:

https://www.ldsjobs.org/ers/ct/stakes---wards.jsf?name=th...

to find a center:
https://www.ldsjobs.org/ers/center/find_center.jsf