-employers do not use recruiters in recessions because they cost money
-job boards are flooded with applicants

People just do not look for jobs on employer websites. There are thousands of employer websites in most cities and many of the job sit on there for months without applications.

This is where most of the jobs are and I found this far more effective than other means.

I started using a research jobs site called Hound that I do not think anyone knows about because it is run by a small company that does not advertise.

All Hound.com does is show you unadvertised job openings that are not publicly advertised and are located on employer websites.

Very few people realize that most employers post their job on their own sites and not on job boards like Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. because these sites charge employers up to $500 to post a single job. In my experience (I am getting more interviews that I ever have), your chances of getting interviews and hired are much better when you are applying to jobs that are not advertised that no one knows about.

I have gotten a ton of interviews through the Hound site. If you are looking for a job I would highly recommend using Hound. What most people do not realize is that most jobs are found on employer websites and not job boards. Hound puts all of the jobs it finds from employer website (every Fortune 500, Inc. 500 and other company it can locate) on its site.

When you start seeing sites advertise themselves a lot that should be a warning sign of sorts because that means that lots of people will start going and applying to the jobs. I really trust Hound because it does not advertise. You can find the site at http://www.hound.com