That is a hefty pay cut. The last pay-cut I took was into my current job (or it appeared to be heavy at first glance). I thought I was taking a $10,000 a year cut - but after I started working I realized the work week was 2.5 hours shorter. In addition, instead of driving 50 miles a day round trip, I was only driving 2 miles round trip. On top of that, I found that they would let me take time off during the week and make up the hours in the evenings, on the weekends or from home that way I have to use very little sick or vacation time. So the huge pay cut was actually a true blessing in disguise especially when gas prices leaped to almost $4 per gallon...LOL..
I would caution this, a lot of employers use electronic resume/application submission. For our local government, we can't deviate from that. As a HR manager, just one more word of caution... very seldom am I excited to get cold calls or visits from job seekers - just too busy. There are some organizations that have walk-ins, but I honestly don't know of any now and my daughter was looking for a job for a LONG time.
I agree, it was great when you could just walk in and apply, but you might be doing more harm then good. I was at a store yesterday and guy walked in and asked to talk to a manager, the sales clerk asked why. He said he wanted to apply for a job. The look the sales clerk gave was priceless, it was like "who DOES that? LOL...he told the guy the manager does not see people about a job unless they have an appointment.
I would be interested in hearing from any companies that still allow the old-fashion walk in and drop off your resume.
I totally agree with everything you say, you can't see a personality through an on-line application and they do take time, but so many employers are using them these days. The market is very different from what it used to be.
Good luck and let me know how it goes!!!