Be Proactive

I have put together some links as well as advice for being proactive in your job search. The links vary from job board search engines, to Chicago related tech news and event sites, and also networking resources for finding the events here in Chicago.

Indeed (www.indeed.com) - Indeed grabs job postings from several job boards and allows you to search them all at the same time. * A great tool for job seekers to use on Indeed is the
"employer/recruiter" filter. By selecting employer you are then just looking at companies that are directly posting the jobs and not using a 3rd party. You can then go deeper searching by date to see the most recent job postings which are yet to be bombarded by dozens of job seekers.

Chicago Tech News (www.chicagotechnews.com) - Todd Allen has put together a great site tracking Chicago's Tech Community.

Chicago Business (www.chicagobusiness.com) - A great source for Chicago business news.

The May Report (www.themayreport.com) - An Inside look at Chicago's Tech Community.

Chicago Tech Report (www.chicagotechreport.com) - Another great source for tech news here in Chicago.

TechCocktail (www.techcocktail.com) - a MUST ATTEND event for any Chicagoans interested in technology!

Windybits (www.windybits.com) - Windybits Rocks! People from all over submit the "WHAT/WHERE/WHEN" for all of the Chicago tech events. (5-15 every day) *Attending the events found on WindyBits gives you a great edge on getting a job. It allows you to be in the same room as several hiring managers from all sorts of companies.

Some advice if you're applying - Don't just submit your resume like every other John Doe. Go on LinkedIn/Facebook and try to find out who over sees the development staff @ XYZ. Then get around 3 names and try to track their emails, allowing you to write them personalized custom emails. Research the company you are applying to, try to get a good understanding of the culture there and also what kind of goals they are striving towards as an organization. You need to be in tune with where a company is going-then describe how you can help get them there. This is something few candidates are doing, and it will provide you with an advantage over everyone who merely submitted a resume. You should separate from that crowd and show not only that you're valuable, but also that you're proactive- Be a hunter not a farmer.

BE PROACTIVE AND LEVERAGE YOUR NETWORK!
We really need to come together and work to help one another! Stop relying on job boards and wasting time with recruiters who think .NET is the ending of a URL.