Online job boards viewed as ineffective

By Carol Kleiman
Chicago Tribune

"Get off the Internet!"

That order isn't from a frustrated parent who wants to use the family computer. It comes from Robin Ryan of Newcastle, Wash., a career coach and head of a consulting firm. She thinks most job seekers are wasting their time applying for jobs on Internet job boards.

And Ryan, who has a master's degree in counseling and education and is author of "60 Seconds & You're Hired" (Penguin, $12), has her reasons:

"Everybody's heard the message that you've got to get on the Internet because that's where the jobs are — one job board even advertises it has 1 million jobs listed," said Ryan, a career consultant since 1979. "But over the years, people have told me they apply and nothing happens. This generation is click-happy, but sadly the largest job boards are the least likely place to find a new job. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2002 less than 2 percent of job seekers found their job on the Internet."

The consultant, who started her own firm in 1991 and does a career column for the Seattle Times Web site, says that she understands that applying online is "easy to do and you can do it at any time of day."

"But the computer will not hire you," she said. "Networking and writing targeted letters to hiring managers get you a job."

The problem with job boards, Ryan says, is that there are so many applicants for every job that your application might get lost in the volume of submissions.

"No hiring officer can possibly go through them all," she said. "And job boards have a lot of what we call ghost jobs, positions listed that sound fabulous but don't really exist or only are open internally. Some of the largest companies put job openings on and never take them off."

Ryan says that "applying online is equivalent to entering a cyber black hole where hardly anyone lands a job. And it's even harder for white-collar workers such as professionals, engineers, managers, executives and association directors to find jobs that way."

Job boards can be helpful in one way, Ryan concedes. "Look at them to see what the skills and duties are required for the job and make sure your rŽsumŽ includes them," she said. "But send it to the company's direct Web site, instead — after checking to see if the job still is listed. And always send a hard copy."

Experts agree that few people find jobs through the Internet. .

"It's another tool, and people do get jobs that way, but there are problems with Internet job boards," said Frances E. Roehm, community information librarian for the Skokie Public Library in Illinois. "Some of the sites sell information about you to companies that want to sell you goods and services. And you could become a victim of identity theft."

Roehm maintains ChicagoJobs

.org, a Web site for job seekers, and also is co-author of "The Guide to Internet Job Searching" (McGraw-Hill, $14.95). She urges Internet users to focus on getting information about your field, studying company Web sites and networking with others in your field.

"Otherwise," Roehm said, "you're spinning your wheels."