Officially unemployed

[nachoman]

The real main job of finding a new job is to determine the best way to get your face in front of the face of the decision-maker and convince him with your creative but subtle "I'm your man" personal presentation that his worries are over, his decision is now an easy one!

That is actually very good advice, and the direction I am taking with another company - and hopefully getting somewhere soon. But in large international companies, it seems more likely these days that you have to deal with a regional HR protocol. A few places I contacted an individual or manager, and was told they *ONLY* accept online applications through a certain handling service following a strict hiring procedure. In other words, the response was "Don't waste your time talking to me, because i have no control over such matters". On many job announcements, it specifically says how resumes may be submitted, and many cases these days it specifically says "paper resumes will be rejected" and "do not call". With smaller companies shmoozing your way in through a contact person could still be very effective. Larger companies? Who knows - but there is probably nothing to lose by finding an internal contact.