Nov 16 2009
EJ advice for bagging that new job online!
At employersjobs.com we maintaint the philosophy that from the very first Google search to the absolute last interview, you can boost your odds at landing that dream job with the right preparation and effort. Below are our ten best tools and tips for jobseekers and career builders.
10. Cover all the search sites
It’s not exactly a “hack” to suggest hitting Monster.com, or your LinkedIn network, to check out job offerings and work your connections. Each site amongst our five best online job search sites, along with the employersjobs.com portal however, it does put you in a different pool of possibilities, and each has its own quirks and tools. They’re somewhat perfunctory and broad, but wouldn’t you feel bad knowing you missed a great opportunity simply because it wasn’t in your super-specific Craigslist search?
9. Cover Craigslist like a glove
The same types of skills and always-there alertness that make someone a Craigslist power user can give them the edge on the site’s job board, which has the benefit of (sometimes, not always) attracting relatively tech-savvy, with-it employers. Once you’re getting text message and RSS alerts whenever “Micro-brew taster” shows up, browse these tips for applying for a job on Craigslist, written by someone looking to hire through Craigslist and looking for only the honest, direct, ready-to-work types.
8. Take the guesswork out of salary demands
There are a host of salary-obsessed sites that use a combination of math and insider info to compute what workers with certain skills and experience levels can expect in different cities and corporate firms. If you’re lucky enough to have an informed source inside a firm you’re looking to jump ship to, or can cultivate one, that might be your best bet.
7. Leave without burning any bridges
If you have a great estimate of exactly how many seconds are left until you can leave, it can be really tempting to email all@youroldcompany.com with exactly how liberated you feel. But if your dream job doesn’t turn out quite so ethereal, or you ever find yourself needing a tip, lead, reference, or maybe even someone to hire at your new digs, you’ll wish you’d kept things civil.
6. Walk into your interview without fear
From covering an oldie-but-goodie list like the 50 common interview questions and answers to mastering a few conversational Jedi mind tricks—how you prep for your job interview depends on how geeky you want to get. If you bore even yourself with your answers to 1950s HR Manual standards like “What’s your greatest weakness,” consider turning the interview around by talking about your first 100 days on the job, or tell the story of your career, and future. If you managed to escape without squirting mustard on the interviewer’s shirt, dash off a quick, effective thank-you note.
5. Look the part
Unless your interviewer is Mark Zuckerberg, your newest sandals and fleece just ain’t gonna cut it.
4. Use search-friendly words; skip vague generalities
Some large-scale employers deposit every single resume and CV into a giant, OCR-scanned database; others merely search out candidates on job sites using specific word criteria. Either way, having the right words on your resume prevents being cut in the first round like some warbly-voiced would-be Idol contestant. On the other hand, the humans who actually read through your cover letter, resume, and application want to see real numbers and results, not Career Services blather.
3. Get better, faster, smarter alerts on job openings
discover RSS tools and as many online alert phenomena as possible … it’s no use you trauling around finding out what’s new - make the information come direct to you as the new opportunities are posted!
2. Build your personal brand with a blog
By and large, no one-person blog is going to replace a salary, but it can help you find a new source of income. Write and post material related to the field you work in, and generally work it as if you were already employed in it. Your CV and clips can spell out that you’re a great with Photoshop, but your blog’s slideshows will definitely sell your clients or employers a lot more emphatically.
1. Write a killer CV for a new career path
With the economy lurching about like an over-tired Capoeira enthusiast, we recently decided it was a good time to look at taking the first step toward escaping one’s endangered (or just plain boring) career for another, no matter what your experience level. We rounded up our favorite tips from our own resume posts and experience, and talked to a career specialist about how to score a great gig, even if you lack the supposedly mandatory “minimum requirements.” Check it out, pull out the heavy-stock paper, and get to writing.
