More Competition is Coming......uuuugh!

Today I learned that one of my colleagues from my WF days was laid-off. He is part of the wave of lay-offs that WF is making as part of the take-over of Wachovia. This bums me out for two reasons:
1) He's a good guy, who I hate to see out of work.
2) There's now more competition in the SF market - as WF is likely going to lay-off a couple hundred (or is it thousand) people, many with my same skillsets.

How's my job search going?
Slooooooow.
I keep finding leads, but turning these leads into something meaningful - like a return email or call - is difficult. Does anyone ever respond to a resume submitted via a company's site? Who do companies even let people apply for positions via their web site? Is it an EEO thing?
And the web site with job postings are just as bad. Monster.com sucks and TheLadders is not much better - this is why I haven't bothered to hyperlink either of these sites.
Then again, thinking back to when I was looking to hire for some open positions within C2P, it was all about:
1) Networking
- Hiring a known or recommended person is much easier that someone that is unknown.
- Receiving a resume from a colleague takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the equation.
2) Leveraging recruiting firms
- Given the large # of resumes submitted for any public posting, a recruiting firm can provide value by sifting through the stack of paper and performing the initial vetting of the candidate.

Taking all of this into consideration, I need to refocus my efforts on my NETWORK (including those of you reading this) and continue to press the recruiting firms I have working for me. So, if you know of any openings or have colleagues who may know of someone looking for someone with my skills, let me know!

Happy St. Paddy's day!


Cool site of the day: Fairfax Cyclery
Note: This is less of a 'cool site' and more of a 'cool bike shop'. I needed some work on my bike and went here on the advice of a friend. The staff is friendly, down to Earth, and nothing like the more chain-like stores. Everyone there rides and Gravy has his shop there. Tell 'em Craig with the Cannondale Jekyll sent you and they'll treat you right.