There was a time when job hunting was something of an art. You would start your day by grabbing a pencil, buying a newspaper, then driving to your local diner. You would order your cup of coffee, savor that first sip, crack the newspaper wide open and fold it straight to the classifieds section. As each golden opportunity presented itself, you circle it with random precision, you head filled with the possibilities of working from home or in sales. Those were the days.

Now, it’s a different ballgame. Everything has changed. Most diners have been converted into cafes and that cup of joe has turned into a latte. Gone are the paper classifieds, having made room for laptops and WiFi connections. There is nothing like that morning dash for the power outlets. Once you’re powered up and online, you can pull up thousands of jobs and send your resume to thousands of resume aggregators. You can even hire people who do nothing but try to get you hired. The future is now.

While there is something to be said for the “good old days,” I enjoy the reams of information I can access at any given millisecond. Just as fashion and popular culture reexamines the panache and smoky cocktails of the Sixties, the idea of the job search seemed more, well…smoky and full of panache. The ease of access has democratized the job search, made it far accessible, and far more competitive. You can even job posts sent to your Twitter account. I’m surprised employers don’t hire more HR people just to wed through the millions of responses to any given job.

How effective is all this convenience and possibility? If you are sending out dozens of resumes a day, and so is everyone else camping out at Starbucks, what are the odds your resume will ever be seen? Here’s a dirty little secret: most online applications are run through computerized keyword screens. If your resume doesn’t have the keywords they’re looking for, your application is deleted. It takes tremendous effort to get your resume in front of a human being.

The folded classified section is a thing of beauty. It is wonderfully cinematic, but it’s as useful as a fedora. Sure, you can wear it, but why? So, I’ve learned to compromise. I have a laptop and only bother with online classified sites that I can filter to suit my needs here in Los Angeles. So, instead of folding over a wad of newspaper, I just surf my online Los Angeles classifieds site and sip my coffee — black, no sugar. I don’t mean to come off as smug, but there is a certain satisfaction that comes from having a site all to my Angeleno self.

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