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. |
|
|
|
|
|
| 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.
|
|
|
Couples
Company Recommends
 |
|
Click on the book
for more
information.
|
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
TOP |
E-books on
Career Issues |
Download these
Resources Today! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Laid Off, Now What?
Surviving Under & Unemployment Financially, Psychologically & the
Inside Secrets to Landing a New Job Fast
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Future Proof Your Career
Future Proof Your Career is a self-assessment, career planning tool
to help you find the work you are best suited to.
|
|
|
Instant
Public Speaking
Success
New breakthrough public speaking system that will have YOU speaking
to thrilled audiences without being terrified!
|
|
|
|
|
|
E-book Search Engine:
Over 11,000 titles in our library! Enter a subject or keyword below and find your perfect book. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
EMAIL
this
ARTICLE
to a friend
Comments?
Tell Us What
You Think!
 |
LAID OFF NOW WHAT?
Covering the Financial,
Psychological and Job Seeking
SKILLS FOR SURVIVING UNEMPLOYMENT
Insider Tricks for the
Unemployed & Under Employed!
MORE
INFO |
|
Reader
Feedback
|
|
