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About online job markets:

The two biggest are Monster.com and HotJobs.com.  I have received employment through these once.  What I've discovered is that since the HR Department receives the resumes, they generally stop after getting 10-20 good prospects.  HR's primary responsibility is to eliminate candidates, not hire them. This is why I never go through HR. Many times I've submitted online and later contacted the company directly only to discover I was the perfect candidate, but the hiring manager never saw my resume!  Use the online markets as one tool.  Do not rely on them as your only tool. 

To comply with EOE requirements, companies are required to post all positions. In most cases, the position is already filled or they have narrowed it down to 2 or 3 candidates. The ad is simply for government compliance. Employment agencies will also post "dummy" jobs to build up their resume data base.  In these they describe the qualities they are looking for, but the job never exists.  You submit your resume and end up in a database for future reference. One of the things that frustrates me with online and print classified ads is that the majority of the positions are placed by employment agencies, not actual employers.  For the employers, you need to go direct and and speak to the person that would hire you, not the HR department.

 

FINANCIAL | FINDING WORK | PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS

Excerpt from: Laid Off Now What
Finding a New Position

Nobody likes to look for a new job.  Let's face it, it's frustrating and when the economy is down like it is on both coasts of the United States since 2001, (and since April 2000 if you're tech related), the task is twice as difficult.  But there are some tips you can use to shorten the time and improve your prospects.

 
 


Step 1: Update Your Resume.

It doesn't matter if you are applying for a minimum wage position or a senior executive position. You'll need two formats and possibly several versions: The formats you'll need are Text Only and Document.

Text Only is a non-formatted document that you can copy and paste into an e-mail or online job board resume postings.  This means no text boxes, graphics, fancy punctuation like bullets and numbering, bolding and italics. Just straight text and paragraph breaks and a common font like Courier, Arial, Times or Times Roman. TOP

Document is created in a word processing program like Microsoft Word or Word Perfect.  This is the resume you hand the interviewer, drop off or mail.  You want this to look crisp, professional and organized.  If you have less than 6 years experience, your resume should be only one page. 

 

Steps to getting Employed:

  • Update Resume

  • Create Cover Letter

  • Assemble Portfolio

  • Make a target list of 10 companies to pursue heavily.

  • Send out e-mail or letter to your network

  • Check with Associations in your industry

  • Attend Industry Functions

  • Post Resume on job boards.  Respond to listings daily if possible, weekly at the least.

  • Call target companies direct.  Speak to your prospective supervisor.

  • Update your skills

  • Don't give up!

If you are management or executive level, no more than two pages.  Print on high grade white paper because most companies will scan your resume through a computer and colored paper makes this difficult. TOP

The key elements you need to cover in your resume are:

  • Contact Information: Name, Address, Phone, e-mail. Note if you are willing to relocate.

  • Experience: Dates employed (use years if possible) Name of Company, Size and location of company, URL, Your Position and a brief description of your duties. Include this information on positions relevant to what you are looking for.  Note at the bottom of the page unrelated positions. Don't waste space if they are not relevant.
             
    I.E.: In college I held a variety of jobs in retail and food service.

  • Education: List your last school attended if no degree and only colleges and universities where degrees were obtained, unless you attended an Ivy League School or other prestigious university. If you went to college, leave off your high school.  It's not relevant. Many companies now use computers to scan resumes and they typically look for Ivy League schools, abbreviations like BA, MBA or Ph.D.  Leave off  the year graduated to prevent age discrimination and GPA. Do state if you graduated with honors. In 20 years, nobody has ever asked or cared what my GPA was. Outside of college, it's rarely relevant.

  • Skills:  List software programs or special training you have that relates to the position.  Include any other languages. Words like C++ Programming, JAVA, PowerPoint are also actively sought by computer scanners.

  • Awards: Any awards you've received for work.  If none, don't list.

  • Associations: List any professional associations that are relevant to the position. If none, don't list.

  • Hobbies: Only put these on if they enhance your ability to get the job.  For example if you sail and are applying for a position with a boat manufacturer, this is relevant. TOP

Step 2: The Cover Letter

If you haven't looked for a job in the past 5 years, things have changed.  Most online job services do not attach a cover letter to your resume or don't allow you to do one that is customized to the specific job.  On the human resources end, especially at big companies, the resume process is automated.  This means computers decide based upon key words in your resume, whether or not a human being ever sees your resume.  You'll find many of the key words in the ad posted. 
 

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For the resumes you send in via snail mail or drop off though, the cover letter is very important.   The cover letter is where you go into detail about how you can be an asset to the company.  The object is to tell the company why they should hire you, not how wonderful you are.  What can you do for them?  TOP

Concentrate on quantitative information like, "As the manager of the sales department, I increased sales among the associates by 60% in my first six months" or "By learning a new building technique in a seminar, I saved the foreman and my team three days of additional work".

And here's a real edge.  About seven years ago I discovered the Knock 'Em Dead series and once I adapted my cover letters to the Executive Summary format, I received response on 40% of my resumes.  Prior to that, I was lucky to get 5%, which is still better than direct mail. Martin Yates, the author, also does a Knock 'Em Dead book for Resumes and one on Interview Questions. Both are well worth the investment. TOP

Step 3: Assemble Examples of Your Work
Have you designed anything...forms, ads, reports, presentations?  Do you have pictures of projects you've built, worked on or created?  Have you written an article, published or not, that relates to your experience and can be used to teach others your area of expertise? Do you have copies of reports you've submitted, proposals, letters or memos you've written, promotions you've created or executed?  If you worked in a service industry, do you have pictures of what the environment was like, who your customers were or better yet, one of you helping a customer? 

Visual aids will make you stand out in the interviewer's mind and show that you take pride in what you do, regardless of what level you work at.   For people in arts, sales, communication and marketing, a portfolio is essential. For those in other professions, it will surprise the interviewer and give them a better understanding of just what you are capable of.  There is a reason a picture is worth a 1000 words.  An example is worth even more.  It's proof positive you not only know how to do the job, but can.  NEXT | BACK

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LAID OFF NOW WHAT?
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