I feel obligated to respond to your comment "I have been warned against recruiters"...
Not sure what *exactly* most peoples' issue is with recruiters. I suspect some of the concern is along the lines of "if a place needs to hire a recruiter, there must be something wrong with it". I actually started my job hunt by the end of second year -- to the extent that by that time my wife and I were combing on-line advertisements, agreeing on where we might/might not consider, etc. By August of my 3rd year I had resumes out to a number of places, and by November I was done interviewing and had a contract in hand. I may have been earlier than some in the job hunt, so don't worry about exact timing.
Here is what I found.
1. There are a lot of jobs that are not advertised, but are readily available if you ask.
2. There are still jobs available in most "desirable" locations, though they are generally harder to find.
3. MOST jobs in "desirable" locations don't pay as well as MOST jobs in less desirable cities. There are always exceptions.
4. Recruiters come in many varieties, but generally show themselve fairly early. I actually went on a couple of interviews set up by recruiters and they all turned out to be excellent opportunities. I ended up taking a job through a third party recruiter for a position at a hospital that was not advertising. Their philosophy is that they don't want to exert the energy/time themselves to look for people, they would rather have a recruiter "weed out" people and present them to them. I passed the weed test and was flown for a 3 day visit to the city with my wife. We both loved it and I took the job 3 weeks later. I have been at this job for a year and love it. I did *not* pay a dime for interviews or to the recruiter. Some places offer signing bonuses but hold the bonus if you signed via a recruiter, essentially paying the bonus to the recruiter instead. I received a healthy signing bonus at the time my contract was signed despite the fact that I took the job through a recruiter.
Bottom line -- look early, cast a wide net, don't turn your nose up at recruiters until you hear what they have to say. I would say that the opportunities may surprise you. PM me if you want more specifics, but I am quite happy in terms of the job and the benefits.
HighDesert
