Job Websites Help College Graduates

November 5th, 2009

Have you just graduated from college and you have no idea where to start looking for jobs?

During your four years in college none of your professors gave you advice on where to start looking for jobs and your counselor provided you with a just a few useless job websites and job search engines.

Now it is two months after graduation. Partying and relaxing is over and it is time to buckle down and find a job. You are good at what you do and you have had plenty of internships.

The only thing is that you don’t know where to start and your resume isn’t too dense. Read the rest of this entry »

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Job Search Engines Provide Vast Opportunity

November 2nd, 2009

Millions of Americans are loosing their jobs everyday. The economy is not booming like it has been in previous years.

It seems like America has been on a steady decline month after month. Congress talks about the improvements in the economy because of stimulus packages and bailouts, but houses are still being foreclosed and refrigerators are not as full as they usually are.

Thankfully, there are job search engines and job search websites to help ease the annoyance of layoffs and pay cuts. With these benefiting search tools, looking for a job seems to be a more attractive option. Read the rest of this entry »

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Find a Specific Employment Listing

October 30th, 2009

Finding an employment listing is as simple as calling up the company, asking for the human resources department and asking someone where the company posts its employment listing.

They will happily tell you where to find their job web sites because companies these days hate hard copies of resumes and cover letters. Wouldn’t you if you have to sift through hundreds or thousands of applicants and then store them for future use?

Or, if the company doesn’t store them, they throw them away in the garbage, which makes for a giant waste of paper.

But instead of searching for one specific listing, it is probably best to simply find a great job search engine and let it do the searching for you. Otherwise, it could take a very long time to get nowhere in your job hunt.

In fact, most companies don’t even post their job opportunities on their own site anymore, because this may look tacky to its customers. Instead, they choose a site or multiple sites to advertise their employment needs on.

When choosing a job site that works best for you, don’t automatically assume that you prefer the sites that are most well-known or advertised on television. The truth is that much, if not all, of the job listings on the big, popular sites will also be listed on the smaller, more concentrated sites.

The smaller sites monitor the bigger sites and make sure that they have everything that the big sites have.

The only difference is that the smaller sites will try to make the information more concentrated and specific, so you get exactly what you searched for instead of listings for a hundred jobs that might fit a vague job description. Smaller sites are also great for local job searches and often include local job listings that the bigger sites won’t have.

Smaller sites also often have a niche, that is good for you and that companies in that industry prefer to post their listings on in order to get a better qualified and concentrated response of applicants.

For example, if someone is looking for a job in journalism, the local newspaper is more likely to post a job on a journalism job site than it is on a big all-inclusive job site.

The sample that they receive back will be smaller, but it will have a better concentration of the quality candidates the newspaper is specifically looking for.

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Job Web Sites Are Preferred Hard Copies

October 27th, 2009

Job web sites are the best and only way to apply for jobs these days.

Unless you have the privilege of meeting the hiring manager or owner of the company in person for any reason, in which case you should print out your resume and cover letter ahead of time (and I recommend using a slightly heavier and possibly lightly tinted paper instead of regular computer paper) and present it in a manila envelope. Other than this special and rare instance, you should be applying for jobs on job web sites for the best and most effective results.

Web sites offer a great way to quickly find jobs that you are interested in applying for. They are fast and easy, often providing step by step directions on how to apply. Be sure to read the job description carefully, because in some cases the person who made the listing says that he/she prefers emails over suing the web site.

In such case, they will provide the contact information and you should reply to the posting via email. But be sure to list which web site you found the job posting on, because the employers are always curious in which web site is working best for them and yielding back the best job candidate results.

Remember to always include a short cover letter with your resume, whether you apply on a site or via email. In some cases, a job site is tricky because it makes it so easy to zoom through the job listings and send out resumes in such a short amount of time and call it a day.

But if you really want the full consideration of the hiring manager and if you want an easy way to stick out from the rest of the resumes include a short, to-the-point cover letter. Start off with the hiring manager’s name, if it is given, and then list in the opening paragraph the position you are applying for with the company’s name and the job web sites on which you found the listing.

You are basically writing in the letter what skills and qualities you possess that would be an asset to the company that can’t be found on your resume or that is in the bottom half of your resume and has a chance of being overlooked.

But remember to keep it as brief as possible, maybe two to three short paragraphs, because the hiring manager does not and will not read through a long essay of your life’s story.

That simply shows that you do not know how to select and highlight the important facts and that you don’t appreciate the employer’s time.

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Don’t Listen to Parents; Use a Job Search Site

October 24th, 2009

While you are hunting for a job, you will get different opinions and advice about a job search site. Some may claim that they love one job search site and hate the other job search engines.

While it is always a good idea to listen to the advice around you and the opinions of others, it is always very important to pick the site that works best with you and that you are most comfortable with. After all, all the resumes go to the same employer and the employer does not care which website you applied from.

Your parents may tell you that the best way to apply for a job is to go into a company and ask for an application. With all due respect to parents, this is wrong. You must remember that your parents grew up in a very different generations and, baby boomers especially, have trouble excepting the all-encompassing ways of the Internet.

They may think that showing up to a company in person implies motivation, dedication and a desire for a job, but in fact it sends the completely opposite message.

It says that you are willing to waste people time instead of figuring out on your own that most companies nowadays only accept electronic applications. It sends the message that you are outdated and behind the times.

It might also suggest that you don’t know how to use the computer or the Internet. At the very least, you are wasting your own time as well as theirs, since they will simply refer you to the website where they post their career opportunities.

Instead, you want to appear to companies sharp, slick and on the ball. After proof reading your resume a hundred times and then letting three other people proof read your resume, save it as a PDF. This shows that you are professional and savvy when it comes to the Internet and computers.

Also be sure to include a short cover letter that gets right to the point of what you can offer the company. After these steps are taken, believe it or not, the best thing you can do for yourself is to spend your days sitting alone at the computer like a total nerd.

Your parents might think that you are a lazy bum, but they simply don’t and can’t understand how applying for jobs are done in today’s day and age.

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Always Use Employment Websites

October 21st, 2009

Employment websites are the preferred way to apply for jobs these days. In these times of the fast paced Internet, it is outdated and not appreciated to go into a company, ask if they are hiring and then ask for an application.

Some think the fact that you took time out to go to the company and the personal touch of a face-to-face conversation will give you an advantage in the candidate picking process. The truth is that you are wasting your time and theirs.

First off, the only person you’ll probably talk to is the secretary or front desk person. When you ask them the golden question, “Are you hiring?” they will simply tell you to either visit their job search site for a list of career opportunities or to visit the employment websites that they chose to post to their job opportunities on.

Even in the rare case that they let you speak with the person who does the hiring, they will do the same thing.

And, although it’s always a good thing when the hiring manager sees your face and knows your name, chances are they will not remember your name when sifting through the hundreds of resumes received. And they obviously will not get a chance to see your face.

Furthermore, since all resumes are electronic now, employee seekers don’t even have to bother with looking at names. They can enter key words and skills that they want to see in resume into a software program that searches through all those resumes for them to deliver the ones that are most pertinent to the employer’s requests.

So you can see why a face-to-face or over-the-phone meet and greet is most advantageous only after they have already asked you in for an interview. Until then, it doesn’t serve much purpose.

If you insist on visiting the companies in person, you will soon find that it is a real time waster that does go very unappreciated. It may even have the opposite effect, with employers thinking that you don’t know how to use the Internet or employment websites or that you are stuck in old-fashioned ways, which is definitely not a good quality for today’s ever evolving technologies and methods.

If anything, you want to look quick, sleek and ahead of the times. Your parents may tell you to go in anyways and introduce yourself, but remember that they grew up in a completely different era, without the amazing advantage of the Internet, and, as much as you hate to disagree with them, they are wrong.

They may think you’re an unmotivated bum, but the truth is that the best thing that you can do for yourself right now is spend your days at your computer.

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Be Organized With Job Search Websites

October 18th, 2009

Job search websites differ on many features, so it is important to pick the job search engines that you work most effectively and efficiently with.

You don’t want to be stuck at your computer trying to find the search field or suggested jobs to apply to or whatever while you are wasting precious time to apply for jobs.

Finding a job is a long and tedious process and job search websites can make it much easier or much harder for you. It is ok to use multiple job websites and I actually encourage it.

Different sites may offer to jobs or different kinds of jobs. I recommend writing down two to four job sites that you like using and rotate among them each day of the week.

That being said, it is important to record which jobs you are applying to and which site you applied from. This will help you to avoid applying for the same job more than once, thereby wasting precious time and looking unorganized to the employer, and it will also allow you to go back to the site to look up the exact listing for a job that you may have been invited to interview for.

As you can see, being overly organized and persistent with you job search is imperative for a successful search. Find a quiet spot in your house to apply for jobs and concentrate.

You should be armed with a pad of paper and a pen for note taking. Again, record the job you are applying for, the name of the company, the site from which you applied, the date on which you applied and any contact information that the listing offered.

Being organized in this manner will give you a definite advantage over those who aimlessly browse through sites, applying for jobs here or there and not putting the effort into the application process that is absolutely required to achieve success.

Yes, jotting down every move you make on the Internet when it comes to job hunting can be boring and tedious. But it works, bottom line. Don’t spin your wheels by applying for jobs in a half heartedly manner.

There is no point because the employer will not waste his/her reading an application that the applicant did not even care enough to construct properly.

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Benefits of a Local Job Search

October 15th, 2009

A local job search via job search websites is probably the best way to start your job search, since employers often prefer employees who live close by, as opposed to a long commute or someone who has to move from out of state.

First, the company doesn’t want to pay for relocation costs and, secondly, they often are looking for someone to start immediately, instead of waiting for them to sell their home and move.

Think of a local job search as your home court advantage. Let the employer know in your cover letter, or over the phone when it is time to set up an interview, that you know the area well and you live close by.

Another advantage is that, depending on how local your search is, you may very well know people who know people who work in the company you are applying for. Contacts are always good and they can mean the difference of one candidate getting the job over another.

If you do know someone who is working at the company for which you are applying, send them an email saying that you are applying for a job in their company, don’t forget to mention what the job position is, and ask them if they have any advice for you.

If you know the person well enough, you can also ask if they could give you some details about the hiring manager.

I wouldn’t recommend asking someone right off the bat if they could put in a good word for you. First of all, it is presumptuous to think that they would want to put their reputation on the line for you and, secondly, the email may feel pressuring to the recipient.

If you are comfortable with the person enough, you may want to go ahead and ask them to drop a good word for you.

But it is more than likely that the recipient of your email will offer to drop a good word for you anyway, without your provoking, or at least let their manager know that a friend or former colleague of theirs is applying for a job.

The manager may even use that person for a reference to the type of employee that you are, so make sure you are on good terms with the person you emailed.

So, that is my advice for this blog and I wish you all good luck with you local job search.

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Be Patient With Job Search Sites

October 12th, 2009

There are plenty of job search sites out there in cyber land and it is important to choose the one or ones that work for you. The only way you’re going to know which job search sites you like the best is by getting started with your local job search. So here are some tips to help you with your hunt.

It may take weeks to months for a response from an employer and it may take months to a year to find the right job for you. In the meantime, it is a good idea to get a short internship or part time job until that perfect offer comes along.

Or you may decide to take the first offer that comes to you, which is also a noble move since you never know when the ideal job will happen. You may want to take a job to get your feet wet and, who knows, it may turn out that the job is perfect for you.

Also, although companies don’t appreciate it, you can always quit your job when a better offer comes along. Never tell this to anyone.

Instead, simply say it wasn’t working out at your previous job or you didn’t agree with where the company was going or it wasn’t what you thought it would be while you were going into your job. On the same token, sometimes we take jobs and it turns out that we truly are not happy with what it turned out to be.

It is perfectly acceptable to go back to the job hunting board, so to speak, and try again. But never leave a job until you have another job lined up. Or else you may be stuck with no paycheck for a while.

When you’re using a job search site, you can search for many different kinds of jobs in different locations. It is a good idea to record what keywords you are searching for in those search fields so you can be consistent and search for the same words the next day, since different jobs are posted daily.

Some job search engines actually save your searches for you, but I still recommend writing them down for your own records. Remember to think out of the box when it comes to deciding which jobs to search for.

More often than not, a particular degree or training that one has received comes with skill sets that are valuable in a wide variety of business areas.

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Online Job Search Needs a Cover Letter

October 9th, 2009

An online job search can be a full-time job on its own. Anyone who has had to endure this frustrating and grueling procedure can certainly relate.

If you’re doing it right, an online job search should take place from nine to five, or for however long you last, everyday of the week. But to help you along your journey, here are some tips that I have discovered during my search.

To avoid spinning your wheels, you need to make sure that you are putting a full amount of effort into each job you’re applying for. Otherwise, there is no point of applying because your half-attempted application won’t even be considered if it doesn’t have all the components that is required.

For starters, every resume that you send out needs a cover letter, no matter how short. Even if the description doesn’t say it requires a cover letter, it is best to include one anyone. It is an opportunity to include more information about you, it is an easy way to make yourself stand out from those who did not include a cover letter and, if you’re using job search sites, it only takes a few extra minutes to include one.

It is ok to use the same cover letter for each job, but it only takes a couple extra minutes to personalize it. Insert the hiring manager’s name, if it is available, the company for which you are applying and the location of where you found the listing in your opening paragraph. This way it doesn’t seem like a generic cover letter and it says that you took the time and you are really interested in the position.

It is always good to keep different cover letters that speak directly to several different job descriptions. As you customize your original cover letter, simply save the ones that you like the best and that tell about different kinds of skills you possess that speak to different kinds of jobs.

This will save you a lot of time in the long run. Personally, I have at least ten different cover letters and most of the time I copied and pasted paragraphs from many different versions to create one that spoke to the specifications of a job description.

Yes, it may take some extra time to include a cover letter, but the benefits are invaluable, since employers know that the easier way to do an online job search is to just send out your PDF resume to every company you can find.

They know that those who just send in a generic PDF resume have not taken the time to research their company and apply to the job with their fullest efforts.

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