Am I the only one who finds agencies and human-resources departments a problem in the job hunt? Why should I turn my life over to someone who can't make a decision without scanning my resume and letting a computer highlight key words? What are you all doing to find jobs?
Of course you are not the only person who finds agencies and Human Resource departments a problem in a job hunt! And the problem is exactly as you’ve stated in your second sentence. By turning “my life over to someone who can't make a decision without scanning my resume and letting a computer highlight key words�, you’ve removed yourself from the proactive position and placed yourself in a passive role. You are no longer in the driver’s seat, but rather are now in the passenger seat and don’t much control the direction of the car.
That said, it would be a mistake to say that recruitment agencies and human resource departments never help people get to the jobs that are suited to them. They do all the time; it is their function. For those out there who say they never got a job with their help, you can find others who did benefit from their services. The thing you need to remember about HR departments and agencies is that they exist to serve the employer, NOT the job hunter! Their primary task is to find candidates that meet the specifications that the employer gives them. If you happen to contact them at exactly the right time and present your qualifications in exactly the right way, then you stand a chance to be considered for the job. If not, your chances diminish greatly.
Let’s reverse positions for one moment; imagine that as a job hunter you had 200 (or even 50) jobs to choose from and could pick ANY one of them that you wanted. The catch is that the only information you have about each job is written on one piece of paper. Without more information, it would be pretty hard to know which might be the best job for you. You would probably want more information and to meet with someone to talk about the job in further detail, see the lay of the land, get a feel for the other people working there, etc. However you’d have to rule out at least 95% of them without benefit of that extra information. Be pretty tough, don’t you think? Well, that’s exactly the task placed before HR departments and agencies. It hard to make choices when information is limited, but the nature of our job-hunting system forces this exact outcome.
So, what can you do about it? You can remember that sending your resume (which is a really lousy tool, if ever there was one, to convey who you are and what you can do) to an HR department or agency is only one way to look for a job, and not a very good one at that (based on the numbers game alone, you’re odds are probably better to win at the blackjack tables in Vegas!!) If you do decide to go this route, be sure you have done as much homework as you can on the job for which you are applying. Use the internet and other published sources to research the kind of tasks, responsibilities, skills, and qualifications needed for it and then tailor-make your resume and especially your cover letter (which you could consider sending alone without the resume on your first contact) to show how you possess those things. This will usually increase your chances of being considered. Better yet, talk to people who might know something about the job you want and find out from them how you can increase your chances to get it. Ask for names of people who can move you along in the process. Keep talking to people; even if it is hard for you at first, you will get better at it and will find that each contact is a help in some way, if not now, then perhaps later. It is a proven fact that person-to-person contact is a more effective way to find a job, than blindly sending a resume. Even if others say that their networking didn’t help them, we’d like you to try it. We know that it does work and is helpful in more ways than just nailing down a specific job. If you are open to the information you receive, you might find avenues to pursue that you hadn’t considered before.
Finally, remember that the effort and creativity you put into your job hunting will have a direct correlation to your effectiveness in finding a job. It you think something sounds too risky, or like too much work or will take too much time, try it anyway. Go the extra mile now so that you shorten the time you are out of a job. No effort is ever wasted if you take what you learn from it and let it help shape your future actions.