Passively posting your resume on a job board is probably the least effective way to land a job. From my experience, the vast majority of employers who pay money to troll resumes on job boards are temp agencies and staffing firms. Posting your resume on Monster is not going to result in a phone call from your dream company asking you to come in and interview for your dream job. I wish landing the perfect job was as simple as posting your resume on a job board, but it isn't. It takes a combination of techniques and tools (and sweat and tears) to find a job that excites you.
I often recommend to people to consider your job search to be a warm, delicious, pie. Each slice represents a different tool and not all slices are the same size.
The biggest slice of your pie should be the most effective job search tool: networking. It's important to remember that a significant number of jobs never make it onto a job board. The jobs you see posted on Monster or CareerBuilder are a fraction of the jobs that are truly out there. Many jobs are filled before they ever see the light of day. Networking isn't just about attending formalized networking events, it's about making every person in your life, or every person you meet, aware that you are looking for a job in X industry, or with Y company. Networking allows you to access jobs through word of mouth. It also gets other people on your job search team, which results in more ears to the ground.
The next slice in your pie should be the job postings slice. This does not mean picking one job board and checking it once a day. It means going to a number of different job boards, not just the large ones. Large job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder cost employers thousands of dollars to post jobs. Employers who post jobs on these sites are likely to be larger corporations with significant hiring budgets. Other sites like Craigslist.org or Idealist.org, cost significantly less so they tend to attract smaller companies, non-profits, and more unique positions. There are also a number of job boards dedicated to specific industries. It's important to research the industry you are interested in and find where those specific jobs are posted.
The next slice of the pie is to attend career fairs. The Career Services Office holds an annual career fair in the spring and graduating seniors and alumni are encouraged to attend. There are also many career fairs in the Boston area you can attend. Attending career fairs is a great way to learn about different companies, find out who is hiring and to talk to a recruiter. Attending a career fair is not going to necessarily land you an interview, but they can be effective. What other time during your job search will you have an opportunity to research a bunch of different companies at the same time?
The last part of your pie is comprised of a number of activities. These activities include cold calling employers, randomly sending out your resume, and posting your resume on a job board. These slices are sort of like the last part of the pie you wish you hadn't eaten. You're completely full, yet you decide to try and cram one more tiny slice in your mouth and all it does is make your stomach hurt. The same goes for these techniques: they are rarely effective and will probably result in a stomach ache.
Don't rely on one tool when you're looking for a job. Don't expect that posting your resume on a job board is going to get you anywhere and checking Monster every other day is not going to cut it either. Your job search should be a full time job and your time should be spent participating in a number of different activities. Not just one. Or even two. Your job search is a pie. There's more than one slice.
~Elizabeth
"Nothing will work unless you do."
~Maya Angelou
