EJobSeeking!

Searching for a job on the Internet should theoretically take a lot less time than it used to take in the old days before email and websites.. Right?

So how come so many people still seem to spend so long working on their job search these days?

Perhaps because so few of them have really thought about how to make best use of the resources at their fingertips! So here are a few secrets behind effective internet job searching that should enable you to do a little work, and then simply sit back and let the jobs find you!

Firstly, of course, you need to develop a totally exceptional resume! I highly recommend that you do not write it or format it yourself unless you have a great deal of expertise in this area – it is well worth investing in getting an expert to do it for you – on average the cost will be less than $100 and when you think that it could boost your annual salary by $10 – 50,000, or even that it could simply bring in your next job much more quickly - meaning that you get one extra month’s salary – surely the investment is well worth it!

I can highly recommend Kate Yandoh ktyandoh@excite.com to write the content of your resume – it is amazing how her words can turn a pretty drab resume into one that shines at the top of a pile - and there are a number of very cheap services out there on the web that can format a resume for you, making it more presentable and effective.

Ensure that your resume contains a number of contact details enabling the potential recruiter to contact you via a number of means – by telephone during the day, by telephone at night, by email, by fax, etc. Make sure that this contact information is prominently placed at the top of your resume.

Think about the keywords you use within your resume. For example, the objective or title of your resume must match the title that the recruitment agent will later be searching for so try to ensure that you use the exact terminology that it is likely that the recruitment agent will use when looking for you. Typing “Project Mgr” in your resume title is not going to match many searches whereas typing “Project Manager” will probably match quite a few.

If a particular skill that you have is known by more than one name, use both names repeatedly within your resume – for example, “Visual Basic” and “VB” are two different keywords that recruiters often use to look for Visual Basic programming skills – to ensure that your resume is caught in both types of searches, use both terminologies within your resume.

Just like in search engine searches, a job search engine checks the number of times you mention a particular keyword within your resume, so if you have a key skill you should ensure you mention it as many times as possible within your resume – perhaps once for each job in which you used that skill, as well as once for a training course you went on where you learned the skill, and again for a certification you have in that skill.

If you cannot afford to have your resume written and formatted professionally, at the very least, ensure that somewhere early on in your resume, there is a list of your top skills (4 or 5 skills usually) and how many years experience you have in each of those skills (or any certification you have in that skillset).

The next secret is to ensure you have your resume in Word format, but also in plain text format. This is crucial, because so many web sites ask you to paste your resume into a text box. If the resume does not look good in this format, is not easily legible, you will lose out immediately to another candidate whose resume is!

Load the Word version of your exceptional resume up to a web site. If you do not already have your own web site, there are lots of web sites that offer free web space and make it very easy to load up a word document to that space (see http://www.doteasy.com or http://geocities.yahoo.com ) – so that it is available to anyone who wishes to access it at all times – and ensure that this copy at least is kept completely up to date.

At the top of your resume in both formats, ensure that there is a link to the copy on your web site that is always up to date, with a piece of text saying ‘To get a formatted version of this resume please go to http://www.mywebsiteurl.com/myresume.doc.’ This means that anyone who ever gets a copy of your resume can always go to your website to get the most up to date version, and means that you can get job offers a long time after you sent out your resume! It also means that anyone who receives the text only version of your resume can easily get hold of a nice, presentable, formatted copy.

Next go to the top job web sites and post your resume to those web sites. For most of them nowadays, you can simply load up your Word or text format resume and the site does much of the rest of the work for you, though for some you will have to type in a fair bit of additional information.

Concentrate your job search on 4 or 5 sites. Ensure that that concentrated effort is spent on the websites that are most likely to have a job of the type you are looking for. Before signing up with a job web site do a search to find out how many jobs match the broad criteria you are looking for – most offer the option of searching before you type in any identifying information or load up your resume. This can save a lot of effort that might otherwise be spent typing in lots of details to a site that never has jobs of the type you are looking for. As a general rule, the sites that get the highest numbers of jobs are a good place to start – two of your ‘chosen’ web sites should be of this type at least.

The best general web sites to use (in terms of the number of new jobs in the USA that appear on sites) are:

•http://www.Monster.com
•http://www.Careerbuilder.com
•http://www.Hotjobs.com
•http://www.Job.com
•http://www.JobWarehouse.com

If you are particularly looking out for a local job, it may be worthwhile adding one or two local websites to your ‘chosen’ list – for example, for anyone looking for jobs in Atlanta, http://www.AJCjobs.com is one site I recommend highly. To find out the most popular website in your area for local jobs, check out ads in your local newspapers or websites aimed at people in your local area. It may also be worth joining any Yahoo Groups for job seekers in your area, or searching the Newsgroups for jobs in your local area – go to http://groups.google.com

If you are searching for a specialist job within a select industry, it may be worth making one or two of your ‘chosen’ web sites a site that specializes in that industry. Trade magazines/websites are a good way to find out the top web sites in your chosen field – or go to http://www.google.com and type in the name of your industry followed by the word ‘jobs’ or ‘careers’.

Once you have posted your resume to 4 or 5 key sites that contain a high number of jobs of the type you are looking for, the likelihood is that recruiters will find your resume themselves without you needing to contact them.

However, while you are waiting for the jobs to roll in, it does not hurt to proactively make some applications for particular jobs that you think you are ideally suited to.

Carefully think about ways to ensure that your search for “ideal jobs” is more effective by choosing different terminology that may be used in the descriptions of those jobs on the website.

Once you find your ideal job, ensure you write a cover letter to emphasise the reasons that you believe you are ideal for the role. Within the letter ensure that you mention the salary or rate you will be requesting and how soon you are available, as well as whether you are looking for Full time or Part time work.

This helps the recruitment agent to determine whether or not you really are an ideal candidate and reduces the amount of time you have to spend going to interviews for roles that you really would never consider even if you were offered the role. However be careful not to specify such criteria if you are open and flexible about such options as doing so could close the door to the role unnecessarily.

Another thing you can do while you are waiting for interview offers to roll in, is to get more qualifications to make you even more attractive as a candidate!

There are a number of websites offering free or cheap training in a wide range of subjects now, and job search time is an ideal time to take advantage of them as you are highly motivated at this time, because you need to get another job, and also because you may not be working (if you have left your previous job already).
Depending upon the subject you want to learn about, you can find free/cheap courses at sites such as http://www.blackboard.com, http://www.smartcertify.com and http://www.freeskills.com Once you know your subject very well, it is a good idea to get certification in that skill to prove to the potential employer that you have a high level of skill/knowledge in that area. You can gain certification in a wide range of subjects – some free of charge – at http://www.Brainbench.com – which also has links to training materials (some free, others fairly reasonably priced).

The nice thing about Brainbench certification is that you are given a web address to send to potential employers at which Brainbench lists your certifications and verifies your skill level – very useful for employers who might need proof that you have those skills very quickly to decide whether or not to include you in their interview list! You can see an example of one of these Brainbench web addresses here (my Brainbench web page) http://www.brainbench.com ranscript.jsp?pid=255096

Hopefully, this article has provided you with some ideas about how to use the internet to increase your chances of finding a job more quickly and effectively. If you require any further advice, on this or any other Ebusiness/web issue, please contact me at mishj@yahoo.com or via my web site http://portal.michellejohnston.com
or http://www.firebirdservices.com