Yahoo now has 14,000 people worldwide working for it and a turnover of $6.4bn - mostly advertising revenue. It made a profit of $600m on this figure, i.e. about 10%.
Internet traffic calculations show that Yahoo has over 6bn visits a year.
Yahoo's climb to success has been meteoric with its share price soaring to $120 at one point. Unfortunately for Yahoo, it was yet another victim of the dot-com bubble and, when this finally burst, the shares fell back to a mere $8. The current price is $17.
According to the Yahoo Careers webpages, Yahoo say they are looking for 'Big Thinkers' in their job applicants along with 'enthusiasm, brilliance and a great sense of humor'. If you are thinking of applying to them for work, does that describe you?
Here are some thoughts about what you should and shouldn't include in your CV and covering letter.
Firstly, make sure that the package you send them has the look of being dedicated to applying for one of their job vacancies and not just a 'hastily adapted' version of a CV and covering letter that you are sending to a lot of other employers. You have got to make it look like you are only interested in a job with them - even if that's not the case.
Ambition is clearly very important therefore you need to put in a career statement of some sort. However, you must make the end goal realistically attainable but not far-fetched ('I want to become Yahoo's new CEO'), and also ensure that your new job with Yahoo is very obviously a major stepping stone on the way.
In the covering letter, put in a paragraph giving a few reasons why Yahoo would benefit from employing you. Focus on real strengths that you have and don't invent things that you cannot do. To give you an idea, some examples might include, attention to detail, dedication, reliability, integrity, honesty and ability to function well under pressure. Whatever you claim to be able to do, make sure that you then briefly substantiate it and are able to go into more detail at interview, if necessary.
Try and learn a bit about the department or section you would be working in and put in a sentence about how your skills and personal qualities would be of use to them. This shows relevance, confidence, and also that you have taken the trouble to research your new role.
On your CV or Resume, include one or two quirky facts about yourself or very brief anecdotal pieces (two sentences maximum) which might amuse. Be very careful to think about not offending anyone - the laugh should ideally be with you; not at you, nor at others.
Yahoo do not appear to operate the conventional tie-breaker type system. Instead, they look at how you address the above criteria. Consequently, you need to put care and attention into your application.
For more information about applying to work for Yahoo and other high-quality job and careers advice, visit http://www.jobvacancies.org
