The Forum Posting Technique

Then again, who says you have to look for jobs only at job-related sites? The best place to look for work is often in Internet forum areas. These are the specialized bulletin boards that cater to every goofy whim dreamed up by the providers (and users) of these services. You can search for them by combining your interest or career area keyword(s) with "forum" through any major search engine (such as Google). While there are some very unique forums, there are also some that will tie in directly with your future career. The most obvious career-related forums are for those of us who work in computer-related fields. If that is your field, you can find a host of specialized forums (down to your favorite programming language and database). For the rest of the world, it is still fairly easy to find a forum that has subscribers in your chosen career. When you find that forum, spend some time reading the messages (especially if they have an FAQ--Frequently Asked Questions--section), and then consider submitting your own humble posting, similar to the following:

(subject) Assistance Request--Seeking Job In _____ In The _____ Area.

(body) Soon-to-be-college grad is seeking to make his/her mark in the _____ world. All I need is a little help from you to find the job of my dreams. I know it's out there, but I haven't located it yet. Will you help me? If you have any information, please contact me at (e-mail address). I will be eternally grateful. Thanks!

While it is not the most eloquent impassioned plea, it usually gains some attention from one of the self-proclaimed experts who are continuously wandering selected forums searching for ways to further enlighten humanity with their abstract brilliance. While these "experts" may be simply be seeking recognition of their knowledge on the forums, they can often be quite helpful to entry level job seekers. You may be their next cause for virtual adoption.

Obviously, you will want to customize it to your situation and use your own wording (otherwise all of the readers of this information will end up with duplicate postings). You will get suggestions, leads, contact names, and possibly even find your eventual dream job. Remember also to go back and read "down the thread" from your initial message since many people will just post to your message (for all to read). While there are rules for any forum, as long as you are requesting help within that focus group, you should not have any problems from the forum administrator.

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