Last week I met a cousin-in-law who I’d only known from Facebook. He has read my blog and tweets and knows my mind is in career management and job search – and because of that he shared a cool story with me.
He was working in a job that was okay but definitely not where he needed to be – and he regularly was scanning for open positions. He said he included Craigslist in his daily routine to see what new jobs came up.
He told me he saw a new job posted on Craigslist (he’s a senior level network engineer), applied for it, and within 4 days was hired. It was very fast… he was in the right place, with the right skills, and interviewed well, and I’m sure he’ll do great at this new job (which is much more aligned with what he needed).
Craigslist in a job search? If you thought Craigslist was only a place to find or dispose of furniture you might be missing out on an opportunity to find your next gig.
Susan Joyce, owner of JobHunt.org, has written about finding a job on Craigslist. You can see her post titled Using Craigslist to find a job, where you can also download a free ebook with the same title.
The idea is to use appropriate resources to find out about opportunities… don’t discount Craigslist.
(however, I will say that if you go to the discussion forum for jobs you are absolutely wasting your time. I think this is one of the darkest and most shameful areas that Craig allows on the site – stay away from it)
Jason, this is perfect. Thanks. I just forwarded this post to a client of mine who needs to know this.
I have to share my experience — After two months of job searching last year (and not checking Craig’s List), I went to Craig’s list and happened to find an exact fit for the type of job I was looking for. As I inquired about the position, I went through the interview process & was hired within two weeks. And this job was within a mile of my home!
I’ve seen that CL seems best targeted for people looking for smaller organizations, as well as technology and/or contract/temp positions. Once you initiate contact with a possible employer who put their job posting out on Craig’s List, act just as professionally had the post/job notification had come from a different website or through your network.
Jason,
I have been watching Craigslist for some time now, and I am encouraged by the positions that I see that are being listed. There is one word to the wise, however. There also has been a gmail scam running rampant through Craigslist that has gotten a number of people caught in giving out their personal information with no job really even there. You need to be aware that these things are out there, but there are also many good, reputable companies and jobs available as well. The best part, as far as I am concerned, is that Craigslist is regionally located so the jobs you apply to are probably in your own backyard if that is what you are looking for, or can be targeted to another community as well.