Finding Where To Sell Yourself

When looking for a job, it's good to cast a wide net, as goes conventional wisdom, but it's best to be strategic, as goes an expert opinion. That is, despite the proliferation of job sites, it's often those more specialized and closer to home that will land you a job. Last week, Alina Tugend's Shortcuts column in the Times pointed to this, with this Sunday's follow up, When Job Hunting, Be Your Own Salesman on perhaps the hardest part, productive face-to-face networking.

Career writer Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World, posted on Tugend's columns, with some commentary and peripheral information on what this means in the current economic climate.

So what does this all mean in the current market? Well, as Tugend speculates, specialization is key in seaching. In boom times, when workers are in demand, huge sites like monster.com can make sense, especially for generalist, entry level workers. But in leaner times, and when looking for jobs with greater specialization, field-specific career sites and informal networks are key.

But you're here, so you knew that, right? Job seekers, let's hear how that's going...