Ten Effective Job Search Strategies

Searching for a new job is hard work. In fact, it can be the toughest “job” you’ll ever have. The key to job search success is to treat the entire process like a business. You are currently in the “job hunting” business. To stand head and shoulders above the rest of the job-seeking crowd, it’s important to lay out an effective strategy. By defining what you want and need, you’re on your way to getting it…

Jump-start your next job search with these helpful job-hunting strategies:

1.     Know thyself. Begin your job search by taking a thorough inventory of your interests, skills, accomplishments, experience, goals, and values. Make a detailed list. The key to a successful job search is to recognize what makes you a unique candidate and to communicate this effectively to a prospective employer, both verbally and in writing. 

2.     Aim for the right target. Try to match your skills, interests, and values with the right career choice. If one of your goals is to get a larger salary, don’t focus on career paths that traditionally pay low salaries. Conduct research on various fields and local companies within those fields. Learn about different businesses that interest you and target those that are more likely to have open positions. 

3.     Be assertive and proactive. Don’t wait around for opportunity to come knocking on your door. While cold calling potential employers can be intimidating, it remains a powerful strategy. It’s important to get through the door before your competition. 

4.     Do some sleuthing. One key to breaking in is understanding the “hidden” job market. Many job openings exist only in the minds of directors, vice presidents, and other company bigwigs, long before the job is finally advertised in newspapers or on the Internet. If you can present yourself as the perfect candidate at this early stage, an employer may snap you up without looking elsewhere. 

5.     Work the network. Networking should be at the center of your job search strategy. Get the word out to friends, trusted colleagues, and even relatives that you are actively looking for a job, and ask them to keep their eyes and ears open for any opportunities. Expand your network and join professional organizations, sign up for job search newsletters and e-mail blasts, contact former professors and classmates, and participate in Internet discussion boards. 

6.     Get professional help. Employment agencies come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges; they can be an excellent resource for job leads. Some specialize in very specific occupational areas, and many often have exclusive arrangements with large companies. If you’re interested in the services of an agency, investigate it carefully. Determine what the agency will do for you and how much it will cost. 

7.     Be temporarily flexible. Temp jobs are a great way to learn skills, gain experience, and earn money while looking for a permanent position. They are also a way to prove your worth and be first in line when a full-time position opens up. Working as a consultant or independent contractor in a company can also eventually lead to steady, full-time employment. 

8.     Say it clearly. When sending out résumés, catch the prospective employer’s attention with a brief and concise cover letter that clearly spells out how your qualifications match the job requirements. Connect the dots for the reader, and make it obvious why you’re the perfect candidate for the job. 

9.     Keep careful records. Keeping track of the progress of your job search is important. Maintain a detailed record of all the jobs you have applied to, including communications, interviews, referrals, and follow-up actions. This will help you build a network of valuable contacts both for your current job search and for any future ones. 

10.   Be persistent. Job searching is hard work and there are times when you will be discouraged. Just keep in  
      
       mind that everyone has been through the same grind at one point. Try to keep a positive attitude, and look at  

       your job hunt as an exciting challenge. Your perfect job is out there somewhere. Good luck!

Locating the Job You Want

Most small companies are not household names. They tend to advertise jobs locally, their businesses often are quite specialized, and typically they don´t have a human resources department to promote them... 

Small companies are forming at rapid rates and are generating most new jobs in the US. Use local resources (such as radio and newspapers) as well as your contacts and Web sites to learn about small employers´ hiring needs. 

The Internet has created profound opportunities for all companies, large and small, to publi cize themselves and their job openings. If your résumé is posted on major search engines, any employer can easily find it. Also be sure your networking efforts include both large and small employers. 

Posted Jobs 
A posted job is one that´s advertised or somehow actively publicized by an employer to encourage applications — usually to fill the position as soon as possible.

Job postings can be direct or indirect: 

·         Direct postings are job descriptions that are made public, either broadly or narrowly. Printed announcements often are internal postings on traditional or electronic bulletin boards to inform current employees. Jobs may be directly posted externally on the Internet, usually in the company´s Careers or Employment section. Ads in local and/or national news­papers, journals and magazines (such as Chemical & Engineering News), data banks, or other Internet lists are also examples of direct postings.

·         Indirect postings occur when an employer provides information about job openings to a third party — temporary employment agencies, headhunters, or faculty. Sometimes an available job will be intentionally leaked out to generate appropriate candidates. Jobs announced at employment clearinghouses sponsored by professional societies (ACS, Eastern Analytical Symposium, Pittsburgh Conference, and many others) are considered indirect postings because you must attend to learn about them.

In addition, vendors at trade shows and technical meetings often have job opportunities to discuss, even if the opening isn´t posted publicly at all. (Remember that many vendors are small companies.)

Finding Posted Jobs 
For directly posted jobs:

·         Visit your sources regularly, including newspaper or magazine ads, Internet web pages, your network members, bulletin boards, and so forth.

·         Identify those jobs that seem to match your values, drivers, and skills (see Chapter 2).

·         Follow instructions in the ad exactly to apply for the job and line up an interview.

Because they are readily available to any applicant, competition is heavy for directly posted jobs. To find indirect postings, you must go where the postings are placed: 

·         Call or visit temporary agencies and headhunters in your area to ask about jobs; remem ber, many temporary agencies have national and regional job lists, as well as local ones.

·         Go to meetings that feature employment clearinghouses and visit the exhibitions area, where vendors display their products (for example, the ACS Career Fair occurs at the semiannual ACS national meetings).

·         Be persistent in cold calling (see below).

·         Keep résumés or business cards with you and hand them out.

·         Try to interview on the spot — encountering a potential employer in person can be a great advantage in the job search process.

Many candidates use these techniques, so your competition will be heavy for both directly and indirectly posted jobs, too. 

Top Questions You Might Be Asked At a Job Interview and Why

You will be asked some tough questions at your next job interview and how you answer will determine if you get the job. Knowing why an interviewer asks a particular question is the first step to determining how to answer it.


What are your strengths and weaknesses?


Why they ask: They want to know what you bring to the table and how you can answer this tricky question.
Find a way to showcase your strengths by giving examples of what you've accomplished in the past. If they ask for strengths, as in the plural, make sure you list at least 2 or 3. Focus on work examples that made a positive impact on your past company. Your weaknesses should also have a positive spin. State how you overcame a weakness by showing you were aware of it and illustrate that now, because you've made some conscious changes to improve your skill, it's actually a strength for you.


Do you prefer to work by yourself or as part of a team?


Why they ask: They want to know if you can work unsupervised and if you get along well with others.
Find a way to show that you can do both sucessfully. Give examples to illustrate how you shine working by yourself and within a team. Show how you're independent, but you're also great with people in a project or group situation. By showing the interviewer that you're adaptable, they know you'll be a flexible worker and will be able to be effective even if the work situation changes.


Why did you leave your last job?


Why they ask: They really want to know.
Find a creative way if telling them the truth. You don't want to lie or bend the truth. But you can be diplomatic and professional and still come out looking like a good candidate. Some good answers (if they are the truth!) are "I left to find a more challenging position where I could fully use my skills," "The company restructured and my position was redefined," or something of the like. Both those answers put a positive spin on leaving a job. Try to do the same for your reason.


What do you think this job involves?


Why they ask: They want to know if you've done your research.
Hopefully you have and you're able to give them a good definition of how you see this job. Don't quote directly from the job description because anyone can do that. Try to interpret what the job description is saying and try to figure out the skill sets tehy are looking for. Then, illustrate how yours match perfectly.


How did your last job prepare you for this job?


Why they ask: They want to know what your skill sets are and how you apply your knowledge. They also want to know how much training you'll need.


Tell them exactly what they are looking for. Use the skills required section of the job description to illustrate how your experience fits this job. If this job is very similar to your last one, show them, using examples that you have the training it takes to do the job right now.

You will likely be asked a lot more questions than this. Answering them requires you to find out why they are asking you. By figuring out why questions are asked, you can better prepare yourself and answer them in a way that projects you as the perfect candidate. 

Courtesy:  CJ

Tips To Plan A Good Career Search

When you are looking to forward to start a new career or looking forward to change your career due to some reasons, just go with all the major aspects that can take you to a better and secure future. The career that you are going to select should be better to return when it comes to income. Your earnings should be enough to support your family and children. It is the job satisfaction that counts most. When we talk about the field of medicine, it can give you a couple of good options to select, more specifically for the newcomers. If you are looking to choose a career in the medical field, try searching the internet for some jobs in CNA. They can come up with some bright career plans for you.


People who are studious, right from the very first day of their schooling can also opt for teaching. It is a fine career for creative people, who are naturally connected with the art of teaching. Teaching is a suitable career as it gives you with a lot of respect, both from your students and also from the people of your institution. Experienced professors take charge of their departments as they have gone with all the studies concerning with their departments, it helps a person grow his self recognition. It can be a good career choice, as it provides the art of making others learn, which is also very rewarding for you as a teacher.


Those who are fond of becoming a teacher and due to some reasons they are unfortunate to become so. They should not fall with their bad luck, as child care or health care is the field which can provide with a similar career. A health care professional is almost the same like a teacher. He makes others learn how to fight with their lives, especially when one is going with the situation of any disability or those who are in the stage when their children have left them alone.


Finally, if we come to a goal or career selection, the first goal of any person should be to have better education. Education is something which enables a man to find his choice of career. It drives a person to a better career start and also gives a better plan to guide him all the way to the best career selection. Skill is important, but education on the other side is far more important.


If you are well-educated you can go with a good career selection and if you are a lay man nobody knows you and even if you are having the skill nobody is able to identify it. So first step for career selection is to go with the basic education and then continue to your advanced studies. Education is something which adds value to your personality, if not in the eyes of others, but definitely it adds value in your own self. A well-educated person can also start a business on their own.

By SW

Lifetime jobs are becoming history

For those of you who think the Internet is useless or full of time wasters, pornography and violent content, (career sites) can exemplify the power and usefulness of the Internet.

The disappearance of lifetime jobs has proven an emotionally wracking market trend for many working people.

Up until the 1990s, many employees entered the workplace after completing their education, intent on pursuing a lifetime career with a single firm from which they would eventually retire.

As mergers and acquisitions abound, so does anxiety. Technology, new demands on higher education and a roaring economy are further destabilizing the traditional employment model.

Bluntly stated: If you think your job is secure now and forever, you are mistaken. Today, the average American changes jobs of seven times in their lifetime.

If you are a job seeker or potential job seeker facing all this instability, now might be the time to use some technology to your own advantage.

The Internet provides continuous access to the world's most progressive companies, as well as interactive, personalized tools making job-hunting effective and convenient.

For employers, the Net provides a cost-effective and efficient recruiting solution, including real-time job postings, complete company profiles and resume screening, routing and searching.

Searching the Web: agony and ecstasy

If you have used search engines such as Alta Vista and Lycos to look for a key word, you have been through the agony of finding thousands of Web sites relating to the word you typed.

In order to make your search more effective and precise, you must learn how to use advanced search tips. For example, if you are looking for the salaries of customer service representatives, you should type + salaries + "Customer Service Representatives" when using the search engine Alta Vista. This gets Web pages dealing with BOTH salaries AND Customer Service Representatives. Using a plus in front of each word gives fewer and precise results.

By typing "Job Description" in Alta Vista you will find results that have the two words Job Descriptions NEXT to each other. If you want more search tips, you can use the Help section at www.altavista.com for more information.

In order to find Web pages by subject directories such as Jobs, you can use www.yahoo.com or www.looksmart.com.

Career Resources on the Web

Many Web sites are dedicated to jobs and related topics:

Occupational Outlook Handbook: stats.bls.gov/ocohome.htm

On this site, you can base your search on career options, such as marketing and finance. You also can locate information about working conditions, salaries, job outlook, training and much more. This Web site is a good place to start background search on a career.

Nation Jobs: nationjobs.com:

This site has search tools to look for jobs, including many jobs in the Fox Valley. If you are interested in finding jobs in northeast Wisconsin, this should be your starting point.

Monster.com: www.monster.com

This highly publicized and advertised site is a career network allowing you to search for jobs in the United States as well as parts of Europe. You can even search jobs by cities such as Appleton Green Bay, Oshkosh and more.

This site has great features and tools such as resume management component, a personal job search agent, a careers network, chat and message boards, privacy options, expert advice on job seeking and career management as well as a free newsletter.

Salary Calculator: www.homefair.com

This site has a calculator you can use to compare the cost of living in hundreds of U.S. and international cities.

Manpower of the Fox Cities: www.manpower-foxcities.com

If you are looking for temporary jobs in the Fox Cities, Oshkosh or Green Bay, this site has a list of jobs that you can search by City or Category.

For those of you who think the Internet is useless or full of time wasters, pornography and violent content, these locations can exemplify the power and usefulness of the Internet.

On the other hand, if you are unsatisfied with — or unsure about — your career's future, this technology can offer, some peace of mind.

By: SB