A wise old saying tells us “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” One fellow who recognizes the wisdom of this philosophy is Richard N. Bolles, author of “What Colour Is Your Parachute?” This seminal job-search guide has become something of a standard in the career-planning industry: its common-sense approach and humorous, accessible style stand in stark contrast to the dense, dry tone of many career development publications.

      One of the key parts of “What Colour Is Your Parachute?” is the section entitled “3 Fundamental Truths of the Job Hunt.” These are as follows:

1. 1.There are always job vacancies waiting to be filled.
2. 2.Whether you find these jobs depends on your search method.
3. 3.If your job search isn’t working, you need to change your method.

      I’m going to accept the first point as a given and focus on the other two. There’s no question that some job-search approaches are more productive than others. Bolles devotes several pages to exploring the most and least effective angles, including estimates of the percentage of workers who find jobs using only that specific method. Here are the highlights:

      - Worst Bets: Using the Internet (1%); mailing out resumés at random (7%); answering ads in trade journals (7%); answering local ads, using for-profit employment agencies or search firms (5-24%, depending on the salary sought). Note, however, that numbers don’t tell the whole tale: the Internet statistic is closer to 10% in specific industries, such as high-tech, engineering, finance and health care.

      - Best Bets: Asking everyone you know for job leads (a.k.a. “networking” – 33%); visiting employers of interest to you, whether or not they have an advertised vacancy (47%); researching employers in your fields of interest in the Yellow Pages, on your own (69%) or in a job-search support group (84%); and using the Creative Approach (86%).

      This last item, the “Creative Approach,” is too involved to cover today (it comprises an entire chapter of “Parachute”), though I hope to return to it in a future column. For now, to buoy the spirits of those whose tactics appeared in the Worst Bets list, I want to return to the disclaimer I used earlier -- that these discouraging results apply only when one method is used in isolation.

      If you’re looking to promote a product, you can’t expect to be swamped with demand if the only place you advertise is on the radio. But if you also advertise via television, brochures, the Internet, sandwich boards, and buses, you can count on broader recognition. And inasmuch as advertising -- selling your skills and experience to employers -- is the crux of any job search, your success depends on using a variety of approaches. We’ll explore this topic more in upcoming columns.

      THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “Pray to God, but row for shore.” (Russian proverb)