Fragment 1 - Finding the relevant job sites

First I was googeling my situation with different search strings like: "telecom job boards" and "telecom recruiting". This way a number of job databases were identified. Some were specialized in a line of business others in a geographical area.

The next much more time consuming thing was to find out which ones were the most efficient ones. To find out about that I needed to use the job sites for some time. This included setting up a profile, moitoring the number and relevance of the job postings, and by assessing the functionality of the user interface.

These are the sites that bave been most efficient for me:
Jobserve is allegedly the "World's number one" job site.
Monster is a global job database that seems to be strongest in Europe and USA.
Telecomsjobboard is the World's first job site focusing on the telecommunications industry.
jobs.ch is the market leading job site on the Swiss market.
recruitgulf.com is a job site focusing on the Arabic Gulf area.

Fragment 2 - Keeping up to date

I used search agents focusing on jobs and the telecom industry to keep up to date.

To keep up to date on the job market I set up search agents at the relevant job sites. Monster has a very good agent function, and here I defined that I was interested in these types of jobs:

• Geographical scope: Global
• Line of business: Telecommunications
• Job function: Product management, Market research, Business development, Project management

This resulted in one daily mail with relevant jobs divided into job functions. Most other job databases have similar functionality, however not so advanced.

To keep up to date on the telecommunications industry I was installing af feedreader on my computer. I used Feedreader3 but there are many other applications out there to do the same job. Then I defined I was interested in getting notifications about

• Telecommuncations/It news from relevant media
• Alerts from companies that I was espceilly interested in
• Alerts from blogs regarding subjects of special interest

This way I got a continuous update of the situation in the world about events of relavance for my job search. The feedreader uses the RSS-technology that enables an alert if changes happens on selected web pages.

Fragment 3 - Applying for jobs

The 5 search agents that I had set up resulted in daily e-mails with job postings.

Having gone through them I sent applications to the most relevant ones. Most of the jobs that I was applying for had a recruiting firm in between. So normally the company would not be known, and the first challenge was to get noticed by the recruiter. My experience is that the screening criteria among recruiters is exclusively the fit between the professional background and the job requirements. Therefore if there was a very good fit, I had a good chance of getting on to the next step. If there was a bad fit there was almost not possible.

My search agents on the feedreader resulted in a continuous flow of relevant news. Some of these pieces of news would trigger further investigation and in some cases an application.

This way I had a number of applications out there at all times.

Fragment 4 - Getting registered in candidate databases

Most recruiting firms have candidate databases with profiles of people in the job market. Recruiting firms will normally check their profile databases first when they work on a recruiting project. In order to be a part of this first round I was registered in a number of candidate databases.

First I identified relevant recruiting firms, and again I had good experiences googeling my need with relevant search stings like "recruiting telecommunications". This way a number of recruiting firms were identified. I also identified recruiting firms via the jobs I was applying for via the job sites. The process was that I looked up the recruiting firms involved in the jobs I was applying for. Then I registered my profile with the most relevant of these.

Then I found out which ones were the most relevant and efficient ones for me. This was a more time consuming task: Over time I made a note of which recruiting firms had the most relevant job postings which ones were the most responsive.

These are the recruiting firms that have been most relevant and efficient for me
Eutopia is a global recruiting firm with telecommunications as one of their specialties.
RP International is a global recruiting firm with telecommunications as one of their specialties.
tangent International is an international recruiting firm with telecommunications as a specialty
Excellent Match is an based in Denmark and has recruiting of IT/telecommunications personnel as one of their specialties.

I found Iprofile an interesting shortcut to getting registered in many candidate databases with only little effort. I just set up my CV with Iprofile and selected the recruiting firms relevant for me. Then they automatically got access to my profile. However the response from these recruiting firms has been poor.

Fragment 5 - Being remembered by recruiters

I managed to create a "trusted relationship" with 4-6 recruiters, and my experience was that they would tend to have me in mind if they had relevant job offerings. This is how I created this relationship:

First step was to identify the recruiters that worked with the jobs I was applying for. Then I tried to find information about them primaily via Linkedin, but also by googeling them. This way I had a good platform for contacting them.

If I had got no response on the job applications in about one week I would call some of them to ask for an update on the job. Not only would this make them remember me better. It also gave me an opportunity to get an update on the job situation in the region in question from the very best specialists in this area.

The next thing was to keep in touch with the most relevant recruiters by updating them on my situation, and CV, and by following up on the dialogue regarding jobs.

Fragment 6 - Getting enquiries from recruiters

I had alrady seen to it that I was registered in the candidate databases of relevant recruiting firms and had an ongoing dialogue with selected recruiters. Below you can see some examples of how this actually resulted in enquiries from the recruiters:

At one point I wrote on my Linkedin and Plaxo profile that I was looking for a job. This resulted in a mail from 3 recruiters that I had been in contact with before. I had a conversation with one of these recruiters that encuraged me to update my CV by making it a bit more detailed. Then he was circulating the it among telecommunications operators in his region. Some days later I was invited for interview with a leading operator.

Another recruiter continuously updated me with relevant jobs that he was working on, and a third recruiter was arranging an interview with one of her clients.

Fragment 7 - Getting online presence

I used my profiles at the major online business networks as an integrated part of my job hunting, e.g. by referring to my online profile in e-mail applications. I also find it important that recruiters and employers find a precise and updated profile if they search search for my name on the Internet.

I had already had a profile on Linkedin and xing for 3 - 4 years. Via a Linkedin contact I got introduced to Ecademy, and via a blog I was introduced to Internations.

After having been registered at these online networks I was optimizing my profiles. I found it important that the profile information was precise and updated. I also found it important that my appearance was uniform across platforms to the extent it was possible. The first thing was to update my picture and use the same picture at all platforms. The next thing was to make sure that the facts displayed were identical across platforms, e.g. Linkedin and xing. However my profile had to be adapted to the platform in question. E.g. Ecademy has another way of showing the personal profile, and therefore I developed a special profile for this platform. It is my belief that this has contributed positively to my online presence in terms of credibility.

The most important online business networks for me has been:
Linkedin that was founded in USA and is strong there as well as in IT.
xing that was founded in Germany and is very strong in the German speaking countries.
Ecademy that was founded in England and is strongest in Europe.
Internations that was founded in Switzerland and is a network of expats and global minds.