Local Job Search
I recently worked for a company who closed the local office where I was working. 60 employees or so were essentially laid off and a mad scramble ensued to snag up any jobs that we could in our industry. I chuckle when I think about what that situation would have been like years ago, before that advent of the internet – newspapers strewn about and phone bills piling up, as we attempted to use phone books and rotary telephones to call people we know who might be able to help us in our quest for employment.
Nowadays, finding a job is easy as a few clicks of the mouse and some keystrokes from your PC or laptop. Sites like Monster.com have perfected the art of coupling perspective employers with job seekers across the globe. Furthermore, social networking online makes it easy to find past acquaintances who may be able to help you, should the need arise. These sites, such as LinkedIn.com, use their database to create large networks of past co-workers, employers, and clients who can be easily contacted in your hour of need.
These sites will always prosper – as long as there are unemployed people out there – but lately, some of the internet’s most prosperous sites are small, local companies who are able to add a small business feel and a familiar local flavor to their online business. Sits such as TropicJobs.com – which provides it users with Caribbean jobs – are beginning to make a huge push in the online job search market.
Logic seems to be on the side of the smaller, as well. Would you rather be a small fish in a big sea of jobs on Monster.com, or a large fish in a relatively small pond, searching for Caribbean jobs through TropicJobs.com? While there is certainly no chance that the larger job search sites are going anywhere anytime soon, I think that the appeal and specificity of the emerging, smaller local sites is going to soon make a significant impact.