General Job Hunting questions including recruiters, headhunters

[gordita]

I'm in the middle of a major job hunt (lol) which necessitates a East Coast to West Coast move.
Long story short, I'm a relative newbie when it comes to Job hunting/Interviewing skills only because I've been with the same employer for the last 10 yrs. (I've had several different positions within the company but never really had to go 'job hunting' or 'networking' for them)

I've been patiently building up my Resume and sending them out over the last month but no dice...

Initially, I thought I would target Boston and NYC since I need some 'practice' before I really move over to the firms on the West Coast ( I'm adamant about moving to CA for family reasons) but over the past 1.5 months, the lack of response from my basic job search is a little deflating (but I deserve it)
I realize I have much much work to do including firming up the Resume and Cover letters, reaching out to internal firm recruiters through linkedin and reaching out to CA headhunters.
The last part is where I'm a little confused.

If my end point is California, what should my job hunting strategy be?
I'm looking at Full time, permanent positions in IT Operations/Management (mid-level management) and I see postings everywhere from CA to Boston to NYC.

This is what I have been doing so far and would like some additional inputs to make sure I'm not missing any opportunities:

#1) Go through indeed.com to identify postings.
#2) once a posting is identified and interest is confirmed, I try to tailor my resume and cover letter towards this.
#3) Apply for the job through firm website
#4) Go through my linkedin connections and flesh out ppl who work for the said firm and if they can fwd my resume directly to the hiring manager.
#5) if #4 is a no go, try to find an internal company recruiter on linkedin and send them a follow up email to confirm my application and if they need any additional info from me.
#6) Rinse n Repeat.

One additional thing I need to do is
# go through my linkedin connections and individually hit every firm that each of my connections work for and see if they have an opening. This way, there's a good chance my resume will, at the very least, be in front of the hiring manager.

Now, I've been told by a few of my CA friends that for my job skills, I should also engage Headhunters specific to California/Bay Area.
How do I find a few good ones? I imagine it cannot hurt my job prospects.
what questions should I be asking them?
anything else I should be aware of them?

Another issue compounding my mission is the fact that a lot of employers out west are now reluctant to pay a relocation package since their labor pool is quite large.
One thing I forgot to mention is that ideally, I would like to work at a small to mid size company, somewhere between 400 to 5000 employees. (Having said that, I realize beggars can't be choosers)

Any other suggestions to accelerate my mission?

any feedback/comments/suggestions would be most welcome.

 

[bobdole369]

the lack of response from my basic job search is a little deflating (but I deserve it)

You might deserve it, but your findings are the same as mine. COmpared to 5 years ago - this time around is a real bear.
Your #2 is just fine, except be careful you aren't pandering or exaggerating things.


Just a note - WHen I had to hire an assistant (minor IT client side duty - entry level - college graduate stuff). I had over 500 resumes within a week. So know that there are a LOT of applicants for every job.

It is a numbers game and a stand out game. You need to excel and you need to get noticed. You are doing this right, just a matter of time.

 

[shopbruin]

I will tell you that we usually don't look at out of state applicants until we've thinned out our applicant pool and cannot find a qualified, local applicant.

We also only pay relocation for higher level employees, above the pay grade you are looking at.

 

[FDF12389]

Now, I've been told by a few of my CA friends that for my job skills, I should also engage Headhunters specific to California/Bay Area.
How do I find a few good ones? I imagine it cannot hurt my job prospects.
what questions should I be asking them?
anything else I should be aware of them?

Don't get on a plane for an interview through a headhunter unless they pay for it.

Don't believe a word they same until you confirm it, double check EVERYTHING the headhunter says by asking specific questions when you interview with the actual client.

And as always, get everything in writing.

 

[Sukhoi]

I've been looking for jobs for a while now, and have been finding very little as well. Your steps 1-6 are a very good start. Also as you sort of mentioned use LinkedIn to find 2nd level contacts at companies you'd like to work at. Get your 1st level contact to give you phone # for 2nd level contact, and give them a quick call. Make short sales speech, and try to get the person to pass your resume to their boss regardless of if there is a particular posted opening you're interested in. Companies prefer to not post to the outside world, so if you can get info direct to the boss you may be contacted before they ever put up a job posting.

Also do you have any friends/family in your goal CA region that you could use for an address on your resume? It could get you through the door, but you will also have to deal with somehow explaining that you can't be there in 3 hours for a quick interview. Could probably just claim you're in the NE at the moment, but are in process of moving to CA.

No suggestions on headhunters. The majority I come across are useless morons, but there are a few decent ones around.

 

[gordita]

I've been looking for jobs for a while now, and have been finding very little as well. Your steps 1-6 are a very good start. Also as you sort of mentioned use LinkedIn to find 2nd level contacts at companies you'd like to work at. Get your 1st level contact to give you phone # for 2nd level contact, and give them a quick call. Make short sales speech, and try to get the person to pass your resume to their boss regardless of if there is a particular posted opening you're interested in. Companies prefer to not post to the outside world, so if you can get info direct to the boss you may be contacted before they ever put up a job posting.

Also do you have any friends/family in your goal CA region that you could use for an address on your resume? It could get you through the door, but you will also have to deal with somehow explaining that you can't be there in 3 hours for a quick interview. Could probably just claim you're in the NE at the moment, but are in process of moving to CA.

No suggestions on headhunters. The majority I come across are useless morons, but there are a few decent ones around.

excellent point about linkedin.
In fact, I did exactly as you mention and my 2nd level contact was able to push my resume to the hiring manager within 24 hrs. Incredibly, I received a response from the manager stating they had zeroed in on a candidate but I was a good fit as well, so this strategy is something I definitely try to use as early as possible in the application process.

#2) It has been suggested to me earlier that I should put a Bay Area, CA address on my Resume and if I get a phone interview, explain to them that my wife is moving there in 3 months which means I have to move there as well and hence, my job application.
I've been doing this for some of the smaller companies that I've applied to.
not sure if this is a good strategy but I'm going with this wherever possible...

 

[Sukhoi]

I would just use the CA address on everything. If a company doesn't want out-of-state they're going to reject a NE address outright. At least with a CA address it gives you the potential of explaining the situation, and if that gets you rejected just assume a NE address would have been rejected too.

Also I should say you're obviously not going to get any paid relocation with this strategy, but you'll probably make more money in the end getting a job sooner and paying to move yourself.

 

[shopbruin]

When I was living in Southern California, looking for jobs in Northern California, I put my parents' address on my resume - anything to help. (At the time, though I didn't care about relocation fees, as my husband's firm was paying relocation.)

 

[skim milk]

Another option to consider is getting into a company and transferring to the west coast office.

I did exactly that. Interviewed, joined the firm at the east coast office, transferred office to where I wanted to live three months later. Just make sure you know what their transfer policy is and if it's possible at all.

 

[EagleKeeper]

There are multiple boards out there that you can use. Do not limit your exposure.
Also, will you consider contract to hire vs hire direct.

 

[gordita]

I would just use the CA address on everything. If a company doesn't want out-of-state they're going to reject a NE address outright. At least with a CA address it gives you the potential of explaining the situation, and if that gets you rejected just assume a NE address would have been rejected too.

Also I should say you're obviously not going to get any paid relocation with this strategy, but you'll probably make more money in the end getting a job sooner and paying to move yourself.

I think this is sounding like a very valid strategy to adopt.
This is what I intend to do starting today.
Thankfully, we don't have a lot of stuff to move in any case...