Alternative new methods regaining former type of employment?

[symbolipoint]

I'm curious if anyone/any member of the forum has used newer methods like twitter, to try to regain employment in some earlier type of work that one had from a long time ago. Instead of the typical job search of going to advertisements, calling companies, finding managers to talk to by phone call, maybe instead make some comments or find people through twitter?

 

[.Scott]

I haven't used twitter, but certainly LinkedIn and job listing sites.
Going through your contact list (with twitter email or anything else) to find old or new jobs is part of the standard practice of "networking".
Since I have been a software engineer for 45+ years, all my jobs have been, to an extent, "the same type of work".
In a few cases, old contacts have resulted in contract work with companies that I had worked for more directly in years past.

 

[gleem]

I'm sure you must be aware of online services like Monster.com or Indeed.com where you can post your resume. Major companies probably do not use these services since they get tons of applications. More and more people are qualified for specific jobs making it harder to choose among the applicants so they default to minor distinctions (biases perhaps) to make a choice. Many are now using software to prescreen applicants resumes to reduce the burden on human resource personnel looking for key words for example relevant to specific jobs or just sizing up the quality of the presentation of a resume e.g. spelling or grammatical errors.

Except for small companies it it hard to think that even an inside contact (unless it is high up in influence) will have must pull these days. I don't think Twitter would be a good medium for networking it is too social. LinkedIn is designed to help professionals network.

I've always been advised that it is impotrant to indicate a desire to work for a given company a first step in establishing loyalty. Throwing your resume out in a generic pile doesn't convey that idea.

 

[StatGuy2000]

In my experience, most of the applications that have ever worked involved either networking with hiring managers or contacts through LinkedIn (often connecting after either knowing someone through my present co-workers, or through meeting people at conferences or organized meetups), or through recruiters.

Many companies these days don't post for positions directly, but rely on the services of recruiters or head-hunting agencies to help cut through the mass of resumes and hone in on specific candidates. If you can get your resume out to a head-hunter or recruiter, that may be one possible avenue to land employment, among others.

 

[symbolipoint]

In my experience, most of the applications that have ever worked involved either networking with hiring managers or contacts through LinkedIn (often connecting after either knowing someone through my present co-workers, or through meeting people at conferences or organized meetups), or through recruiters.

Many companies these days don't post for positions directly, but rely on the services of recruiters or head-hunting agencies to help cut through the mass of resumes and hone in on specific candidates. If you can get your resume out to a head-hunter or recruiter, that may be one possible avenue to land employment, among others.

One main reason I started the question is that some people have been away from a former career for many, many years, and hope to look for a path back to it. No current contacts. No current references.

 

[CrysPhys]

One main reason I started the question is that some people have been away from a former career for many, many years, and hope to look for a path back to it. No current contacts. No current references.

I can't address your primary question regarding new social media. But as someone who switched careers multiple times and, on occasion, considered returning to a former career, I'd like to give you these general comments:

(1) A lot depends on what career you are talking about, and how long an interval is "many, many years". If you're in a fast-moving, high-tech area, your expertise can be stale within a year or two, and obsolete within five years. So you need to seriously reflect on what value you can offer to a potential employer.

(2) If you have no personal connections to potential employers, then you are likely to return to a former career only:

(a) If there is a demand for expertise in legacy products or systems, and you happen to have that expertise. The primary example of such a demand was in the latter half of the 1990's, when IT departments were faced with the potential Y2K meltdown. If you had a previous career in computer programming with expertise in COBOL, and had moved on to another career, you would have had no problem returning to a career as a COBOL programmer (although for several years at most). There is a niche demand at times for people with expertise in older technology, such as vacuum tubes.

OR

(b) If there is an overall shortage of skilled people in a particular field in which you had prior experience. E.g., optoelectronic devices for telecommunications was a sizzling field in the 70's and 80's but got quenched in the early '90s; many were laid off and left the field. But by the late 90's, demand suddenly heated up again due to the Internet Bubble, and there weren't enough recent grads to fill the demand ... so people with the right background were welcome back even though they were not up-to-date on the latest technology (unfortunately those who returned were likely laid off again just a couple of years later when the Internet Bubble burst).

(3) Otherwise, your best bet for returning to a former career is via former colleagues who worked with you. Colleagues who will overlook your out-of-date knowledge (but are confident that you can come up to speed in a reasonable time), because they value your generic skills: initiative, problem solving, communications, working in teams, leading teams ...