If you look for something local, why not just write a good resume and pick those companies around you that actually interest you and just go for it?

I am all for tech platforms, but when i want to work with this company i prefer real human to human interaction over everything.

Let's see. My first job, I got when a job offer fell through, and the hiring manager told me about this other company that had a similar job open. My second job was after reading about a startup launching and emailing them. My third was when I joined former co-workers. My fourth was when I contacted people I used to work with.

I guess you can call it mostly networking. Obviously, networking works better as you gain more experience, start knowning more people and get better technically.

You could get more specific advice with some more info. Where are you? How much experience? Looking for remote or onsite? What technology do you know well?

Generically, I like SO careers -- you don't need rep on it to apply to jobs.

The most effective application advice I could give is to make your resume and cover letter specific to the job you are applying for. Your cover letter should be treated as a writing sample that is an argument for why you should be hired for the specific job being offered.

Thanks for the reply--

I have about 6 years of experience. I'm a senior team lead at a bay area startup.

I'm really looking for what areas to 'focus' on.

1. I don't think SO career profile is worth maintaining. You're right, the job selection/application process is nice and simple. 2. Resume/cover letters are still very important and need to be maintained/tailored to each job. 3. LinkedIn seems like a good networking/reference tool so should probably be maintained. 4. Dice.com? Doesn't seem worth maintaining to me.

It seems to me directly applying for positions with a nice resume/cover letter are still #1. A decent LinkedIn seems to help showcase recommendations/network, but isn't super important.

As for tech, I feel I am comfortable with anything from C/C++ to Ruby/Python/Go to JavaScript. I have experience on mobile, desktop and web development. I'm open to all opportunities but hoping for mobile/desktop or backend work.

I only have 6-ish years of professional experience but I've written code from a young age and have a number of open source projects as well as contributions to major projects like Vim, Homebrew, etc.

If you are actively looking, I'd try hired.com.

For passive (just being out there), SO inbound is way higher quality than LinkedIn. LI is spammy for me.

The last time I did a massive search (2006), I really liked indeed.com for aggregating. I made an RSS to a very specific search term. It took months to even get one hit, but I worked there for 7 years.

So far, I've had my best (and) worst luck through networking - facebook and email.

I get contacted by recruiters and resume/remote work startups through HN and Linkedin, but neither has resulted in actual employment,

I would suggest trying everything, but focus on personal networking if your resume and CV aren't stellar, or you aren't in a large market.

I got my last 2 jobs simply by updating my LinkedIn, and having recruiters contact me. Both were high-paying, high-profile, really painfully awful jobs. I'll be looking out for ways of getting actually good jobs, assuming such a thing exists.

I managed to find jobs in my field just by sitting on IRC channels, like those specific to a platform or technology that I'm good at/currently using/can help others with.

I guess it's similar to having a good rep on SO and getting recruitment offers through there.

I've had surprisingly good luck on craigslist, I find both small and large companies post on craigslist. Networking, as everyone else has mentioned, is definitely the easiest approach and usually produces good quality leads.

Right here on HN is a good place to start. There is usually a who is hiring and who want's to be hired thread every first week of every month.

I'm a fan of landing.jobs

I got my current job by being reached out to on Dice.com

i search city/local-specific tech job boards as well.