You Need to Apply Online...

Employers don't want paper resumes anymore, I was told. Most employers want potential hires to apply online.

I certainly don't have a problem with that -- especially since my resume and work samples are all online at my personal job-hunting Web site.

So I applied for jobs online, applying anywhere and everywhere I could think of.

I applied for more jobs at PNC that I can count. Even if the jobs were only remotely interesting, I applied for them. I even opened a checking account at PNC to improve my odds of getting a job.

I paid a visit to a restaurant owned by my brother's friend, Jon, a mid-level executive at PNC who has worked at the bank's corporate headquarters for 17 years, to personally ask him if I could list him as a referral on my applications. "Sure!" he said. "Great!" I thought.

But despite the many applications I filled out online at pnc.com, I didn't get a single phone call or e-mail reply.

Other organizations that I applied to include Heinz Foods, National City bank, Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Carlow College, Blattner-Brunner and many, many others.

So why didn't I try for a job with one of the Pittsburgh area's smaller businesses? Here's why: with a few notable exceptions, most smaller companies are behind the curve regarding technology. My two and a half years at my last job, a smaller Pittsburgh-area organization, left me without the skills I needed to compete in today's workforce.

I really don't want to play a constant game of catch-up for the rest of my life. I love education and I love learning, but I don't want to spend ALL of my free time online or in the classroom learning important job skills that I could -- and should -- be learning on the job.