Spending 16 of 18 months unemployed taught me that the old ideas about job hunting are largely out the window in today's market. I have found the shotgun approach is more effective than being overly selective about what you apply for.
My current job was not advertised and found me on Monster.
Previous job (ended abruptly due to government contract cancellation) was advertised, but their recruiter found me on Monster.
Previous job (six years back) was landed because I applied for a job I didn't really want, but a VP saw my resume and had a different, higher level, need to fill and hired me.
Fact is that for every advertised job there may easily be 500 resume submissions. In past markets it may have been a great idea to spend half a day researching the company and writing a killer cover letter. Being # 5 submitted out of 25 didn't matter much. Today that half day delay may drop you from #10 to #250 in the list to have your resume reviewed, so the cover letter you spent so much time on does not even get looked at. Even if it does get read, it is being initially reviewed by a low level clerk, or possibly a computer algorithm, that is only scanning for keywords.
Outside recruiters are hurting too with so few commissions available, so they are working the job boards finding qualified candidates. Being visible (again, shotgun approach) gets you in front of those opportunities. Let them do some of your legwork.
There is also a mental toll when you spend so much time on one job and never hear a word back. It gets unbelievably frustrating to not even have your work acknowledged. I shifted my time from 75% customization and 25% generic resumes to about 10% custom and 90% generic. Sending 20 resumes in the time it took me to customize one got me much better feedback. In the end the generic got me employed again.
As for settling for the "non-cushy" job, I agree with Jim that 99% of the unemployed people out there get that now, with over 50% of those on unemployment being out of work for over 6 months. Problem is, when an employer has 10 qualified and 5 overqualified candidates, they are not going to pick the overqualified and end up having fill the position again in 1-3 years when the market turns around.
The one factor affecting most job seekers today is FRUSTRATION. It is particularly frustrating that so many organizations will not acknowledge receiving an application, regardless whether the job seeker is answering an ad or "cold calling" prospective employers.
In other threads, we have discussed getting past gatekeepers (human and software robots), concluding that, whether you are 10th or 250th in a pile of resumes and applications, your application will find the round file [waste can] if you do not have the right combination of key words and buzz words to meet the gatekeeper's screening criteria. Again, FRUSTRATION!
I absolutely agree an employer looking at the long term will pass on hiring a over-qualified candidate because he expects that over-qualified individual to jump ship when a better offer comes along.
There are, however, a number of short-sighted employers out there who will exploit an over-qualified candidate for as long as they can. The problem is compounded for job seekers because so many of those overqualified candidates still have the memory of their job seeking FRUSTRATION that they are fearful of going out seeking a new job to meet their qualifications. Thus we have a residual pool of "under employed" folks who are unhappy and dissatisfied with their current situation, but like Hamlet,
rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
There is something to be said for "shotgunning" job applications, but you still have to have some discrimination and common sense is where you aim the shotgun, but I guess, like all hunting, the most success is gained when you use the appropriate weapon (i.e. no elephant gun for rabbits or squirrels, and no BB guns for elephants and bison.)
Each job seeker really has to have an honest sense of what he is worth to a prospective company, you can't count on a recruiter to make a good assessment from a generic resume that will fit any company.
Despite any FRUSTRATION he may encounter during the job hunt, the candidate will ultimately find more reward and satisfaction when he gets a position which suits his talent and experience, rather than cramming his personality and talent into someone else's "one size fits all" shoes.
