3 Critical Job Search Mistakes
With no improvement in the unemployment figures in the United States
, many people are turning to career education resources. Services that help you write the best resume and coach you on interview techniques are very popular. Local workforce development organizations offer these types of classes and training, usually at no cost. These organizations are funded by taxpayer dollars and are positive environments that job seekers can visit throughout the week to network, refine their presentation skills and research career opportunities. With competition so heavy for jobs, how do you stand out from the crowd?
BigMistake: Not making sure potential employers can find you.
Job recruiters use the internet extensively to find candidates for positions. To ensure these recruiters find you on the web, create an online presence for yourself using these tips:
Create a complete linkedIn.com profile. Enter all keywords in your linkedIn profile that relate to your skills and experience.
Search and join groups on linkedIn that have a relationship to the field you are in to expand your visibility to employers and recruiters. Post your resume on the major job boards (ex. monster.com) and post resume on smaller, specialized boards like Dice.com (IT jobs) and SalesGravy.com (sales positions).
Big Mistake: Manage What People Find Online About You?
Having an online resume is great. However, be careful about personal information you share online. Although social sharing
sites like MySpace and Facebook are fun and let you get in touch with old friends, plan high school reunions, and share pictures with family and friends and more, remember that job recruiters are accessing this information too. In fact, you may be disqualified from consideration solely based on the perception that your Facebook profile gives to a recruiter. To protect your best interests during a job search, follow these tips:
Google your name and inspect the results;
Check Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other online profiles to ensure appropriateness of your posts, etc.;
Remove any online photos that may tarnish your image;
Update your voicemail message to be brief and professional;
Post your resume to dozens of the top job sites;
Avoid using quirky email addresses (ex. hotstuff83@xyz.com).
The goal of a resume is to convince a hiring company to pick up the phone and call you. You only have approximately 1.5 to 3.5 seconds of a recruiters attention when they look at your resume before they make a decision on whether to call you right away or put your resume in the "maybe" folder. Follow these tips to make sure your resume motivates a company to make that phone call to you.
Big Mistake: Not Promoting Yourself Effectively
Potential employers do not know you. Promote your strengths, such as organization skills, public speaking, detail oriented, etc;
Ensure your resume contains specifics about previous employers like the type of industry or products sold;
Design your resume like the front page of a newspaper. The top of the page should be headline style and instantly give the reader an idea of who you are. For examples: "Award Winning Hospital Pharmacist", "Retail Sales Manager", "Microsoft Certified Computer Engineer";
Employers use automated web crawlers to find candidates so make sure your online profiles and resumes have keywords relevant to your skills, for example, list titles of specific software programs you are good with;
Write results oriented bullets for your previous jobs since no one cares that you were "responsible for answering help desk calls" at your last job. However, you may stand out if you "reduced help desk expenses by 20% by identifying the top help desk questions and collaborating with our website team to design an online frequently asked questions tutorial."
by: Nathan Randall
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