Job Boards / Recruiters?

I have very seriously been considering leaving my business - the emotional drama is becoming too much and I am completely bored out of mind. I have worked for myself for long time and kind of don't know where to start. The idea of getting a paycheck is becoming increasingly attractive - I have a lot of business contacts that I could network in but I would like to begin my inquisition privately.

Can anyone recommend good recruiters / head hunters (i guess firms?) / job boards besides the obvious monster.com?

Oh yeah, Mid-Atlantic!

Gosh I wish I had some advise, I know that when I was looking I went to Monster and noticed several placement agencies, so I contacted them directly. Maybe try that.

I have been looking for a new job for a few months now, and I have gotten nowhere with the job boards. The one recruiting agency I talked to that specialized in my field (marketing) "yes" 'd me to death and then I didn't ever hear from him again. Just this morning I sent an email to all of my friends and aquaintances telling them what I am looking for. I got my current job because I "knew someone who knew someone" with an opening. Honestly, I think that's the best way. Sorry I'm not more help.

If you have inside networking contacts, I would definitely recommend utilizing them. I would definitely say the best jobs are ones that you just "hear about" and they ARE NOT on monster.com.

Another tactic I love is to decide what company you WANT to work for - don't wait for them to post an ad. Approach them thru a contact, market yourself & show them what you can do for them. Good companies will recognize talent & want to scoop them up even if they aren't advertising for a position at the time. (see Ask The Headhunter® - very good advice on marketing yourself).

If neither of those options work for you, then go with a widely known, reputable firm. I don't know what your area of specialty is...but Robert Half International represents finance & accounting professionals, MRI is a management staffing company (entry level to exec) & they have offices all over the US.

This is a good guide to how to work with recruiters & lists several firms & their area of specialty : Executive Search Firms: The Riley Guide

Good luck!

Christa you are an expert!!!

I am a corporate recruiter for a market research company. I don't know what your background is, but if you use a search firm or headhunter you want to work with someone who specializes in your field. As someone else mentioned, applying directly to companies you are interested in working for are a good place to start or making contacts with someone from that company through Linked In. I'm not sure what salary range you are in, but theladders.com charges a fee but you will have access to companies with positions that pay $100K +. If you belong to any associations they sometimes have job boards with positions in your field. Niche job boards are usually better to look at than monster, careerbuilder, etc. We post our jobs to monster/careerbuilder, but also to quirks.com and cpgjoblist.com amongst others since those are sites that target people in our industry.

With the exception of my current job (which came from Monster) and my first job (which was a personal referral), this is how I started in my career and advanced with each job movement:

1) I used google to find companies in my area that specialized in my field.

2) I looked on the careers page of their website for any possible openings, and applied for what I was qualified/interested in.

3) If no jobs were listed in my field with the company, I simply called their main number to obtain the name of their CEO, or if the company was really large, who the VP of the IT department was.

4) Once I had either the CEO's name or the VP's name, I would call to get their email address and direct number.

5) Then I sent my resume to them direct, and followed up with phone calls.

In the last 4 companies I worked for, they had no postings on job sites for positions that I was qualified for. But, once the CEO/VP saw my resume, they CREATED jobs for me based on my expertise.

With the exception of my current job (which came from Monster) and my first job (which was a personal referral), this is how I started in my career and advanced with each job movement:

1) I used google to find companies in my area that specialized in my field.

2) I looked on the careers page of their website for any possible openings, and applied for what I was qualified/interested in.

3) If no jobs were listed in my field with the company, I simply called their main number to obtain the name of their CEO, or if the company was really large, who the VP of the IT department was.

4) Once I had either the CEO's name or the VP's name, I would call to get their email address and direct number.

5) Then I sent my resume to them direct, and followed up with phone calls.

In the last 4 companies I worked for, they had no postings on job sites for positions that I was qualified for. But, once the CEO/VP saw my resume, they CREATED jobs for me based on my expertise.