Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2010. Its picture of job portals, with online CVs, hundreds or thousands of applicants per opening and secretaries screening every CV, reflects job hunting in Spain before applicant tracking systems and LinkedIn became widespread.
Keep in mind that good job offers rarely show up in the job ads section of a newspaper. As we’ve discussed in previous articles, whoever stops to think about their strategy has an edge over the competition.
The best job openings are usually filled through referrals from middle managers, or from employees who recommend their friends. Even so, companies like to meet candidates in a selection process. They like to think they are the ones choosing the worker, when in reality they go for the candidate who sold themselves best. The company doesn’t always get to choose you; you can choose it too.
Now the internet makes this easier, thanks to the job offers that companies post on job portals.
Register your CV the way they ask you to in order to use the job search service on online portals. But if you think the secretary in charge of screening candidates is going to read every single CV, you’re playing the lottery. These days some openings get hundreds, even thousands, of applications.
A tip
Many of these advertisers include the company name, and some even give their location and tax details. Don’t wait for the draw unless you’ve already won the lottery several times, because that’s what your online CV is: one ball tossed into the lottery drum. They’ll probably hire another candidate who is less qualified than you without having so much as looked at your photo.
Find out where the company is and go there in person. Ask directly for the manager, the owner or whoever is in charge of hiring, and sell yourself well. Remember that you only get one chance, so plan how you’ll manage to speak to them face to face without coming across as desperate, tiresome or brash (although there’s nothing wrong with being bold).
Look on the bright side: if your attempt fails, which is a thought you should put out of your head, you’ll still have the CV lottery draw to fall back on.
Here are some Spanish sites that publish plenty of job offers:
- http://infoempleo.com/
- http://infojobs.net/bolsa.trabajo
- http://oficinaempleo.com/
- trabajo.excite.es/ofertas
- http://mundoanuncio.com
Featured image: Amtec Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
