ResumeMaker's Top 25 Tips for Finding a Better Job

Is a job change in order? Peruse the 25 most effective ways to job hunt. If it's time for new beginnings, and if you're searching for a job, it's a good time to make sure your priorities are in check. egin with some basic sou!"searching, move to creative networking, and conc!ude with the foremost ways to investigate prospective companies. #hese are a!! sure strategies for getting a competitive edge in the job market. ut finding a job means more than being competitive. In the bewi!dering new wor!d of techno!ogy$ on!ine boards, career centers, and growing numbers of comp!e% web sites$it a!so means knowing your way around. &ere are 25 tips to !earn how to ma%imi'e your time, your effectiveness, and your chances of success in your ne%t career search( 1. First and foremosttake a personal inventory. )ob hunting gives you the opportunity to go back to *s+uare one* and inventory a!! over again what you are a!! about, what ski!!s and know!edge you have ac+uired, and what you want to do. ,ho are you? ,hat do you want out of !ife? - job? - career? ,here are you going? .o you know how to get there? &ave you been happy in your work/career/profession? ,hat wou!d you !ike to change? -n inventory such as this is the best job hunting method ever devised because it focuses your view of your ski!!s and ta!ents as we!! as your inner desires. 0ou begin your job hunt by first identifying your transferab!e, functiona!, ski!!s. In fact, you are identifying the basic bui!ding b!ocks of your work. 2. Apply directly to an employer. Pick out the emp!oyers that interest you the most from any source avai!ab!e 1web !istings, ye!!ow pages, newspaper ads, etc.2, and obtain their address. -ppear on their doorstep at your first opportunity with resume in hand. 3ven if you don't know anyone there, this job hunting method works a!most ha!f the time, if you are diligent and continue your pursuit over several weeks or months. 3. Ask relatives and friends about jobs where they work. -sk every re!ative and friend you have now or have ever had about vacancies they may know about where they work, or where anyone e!se works. It may take a vi!!age to raise a chi!d, but it takes an entire network to find a new job( If you te!! everyone you know or meet that you are job hunting and that you wou!d appreciate their he!p, you more than +uadrup!e your chances of success. 4. earch hidden job markets. 4etworking is the *&idden )ob 5arket.* ecause every time you make contact with a person who is in direct !ine with your career interest, you set up the possibi!ity that he or she wi!! !ead you to more peop!e, or to the job you are seeking. Peop!e are connected to one another by an infinite number of pathways. 5any of these pathways are avai!ab!e to you, but you must activate them to make them work to your advantage. 5ost of the avai!ab!e jobs are in the hidden

job market. #hey aren't !isted in the c!assifieds or p!aced with a headhunter. 6ind them through your network of contacts. #his is your most va!uab!e resource( !. Ask a professor or old teacher for job"leads. 4o one knows your capabi!ities, dedication, and discip!ine better than a teacher or professor who had the opportunity to work with you in schoo!. 7ince more peop!e find their work through direct referra! by other peop!e than by any other way, this is a target audience you don't want to miss. #. pend more hours each week on your job hunt. 6inding a job is a job( #reat your job hunting just as you wou!d a norma! job and work a norma! number of hours per week, at !east 85, preferab!y 9: in the process. #his wi!! cut down dramatica!!y on the !ength of time it takes you to find work. .id you know that the average person in the job market on!y spends 5 hours or !ess per week !ooking for work? ,ith that statistic, it isn't surprising that it can be a !ong, tedious process. Improve your chances and demonstrate your discip!ine and determination. .evote 7undays to answering ads and p!anning your strategy for the ne%t week. .on't spend precious weekday hours behind a computer. 0ou need to be out there researching !eads, networking, and interviewing. ,ork smarter for yourse!f( $. %oncentrate your job hunt on smaller companies. 5ost new jobs wi!! come from sma!!er, growing companies, typica!!y with fewer than 5:: emp!oyees, not !arge, restructuring companies. -!though !arger emp!oyers are more visib!e, we!! known and aggressive in their search for emp!oyees, it is with the sma!!er companies that you may have the best chance of success in finding work. Pay particu!ar attention to those companies that are e%panding and on their way to prosperous growth;they are easier to approach, easier to contact important personne!, and !ess !ike!y to screen you out. &. ee more employers each week. If you on!y visit si% or seven emp!oyers a month in your job search 1which is the average, by the way2, you wi!! pro!ong your search and de!ay your successfu! outcome. #his is one reason why job hunting takes so !ong. If you need to see 95 emp!oyers to find a job, it on!y makes sense to see as many emp!oyers a week as possib!e. .etermine to see no fewer than two emp!oyers per week at a minimum( .o this for as many months as your job"hunt !asts. <eep going unti! you find the kind of emp!oyer who wants to hire you( =ooking for a job is a numbers game. #he more contacts you make, the more interviews you'!! get. #he more interviews you have, the more offers you'!! get. '. (e prepared for phone interviews. ,ou!d you be!ieve that over 5:> of prospective candidates are dis+ua!ified after the first phone contact is made with them by an emp!oyer? In today's wor!d, emp!oyers don't have time anymore to interview every possib!e app!icant and are using phone ca!!s as a !ess e%pensive, !ess time consuming way to weed out potentia!!y un+ua!ified candidates. #he phone interview catches many peop!e off guard. 0ou might receive more than just one phone interview, and you have to pass them a!!. #he interviewer usua!!y makes up

his or her mind within the first five minutes. #he remainder of the time is spent just confirming first impressions. 1). %reate a support *roup. It is easy to get discouraged, depressed and despondent 1the three .'s2 in the job"hunt process. #his can be one of the toughest and !one!iest e%periences in the wor!d and the rejection you may have to face can be bruta!, but it doesn't have to be. #he key is in understanding that you are not a!one. #here are !itera!!y hundreds of thousands of peop!e !ooking for work, and you can team up with one if you choose. 5any job"hunting groups a!ready e%ist, such as the !oca! ?hambers of ?ommerce and on!ine support groups through the Internet. 6ind a partner, or a !arger group, and support and encourage each other. #he path to success is !itera!!y a phone ca!! away. 11. %ontact potential employers directly throu*h professional associations. Professiona! associations provide e%ce!!ent networks for your benefit. -!most a!! committed professiona!s are members of at !east one or two professiona! networks. @sua!!y membership inc!udes a directory, which provides you with a direct networking resource for verba! contact and mai! campaigns. -dditiona!!y, most professiona! associations ho!d regu!ar!y schedu!ed meetings, which provide further opportunities to ming!e with your professiona! peers on an informa! basis. 6ina!!y, professiona! associations a!! have news!etters that are a va!uab!e resource for other trade pub!ications, associations, and he!p wanted sections. 12. +ost your resume online. In today's wor!d there are numerous resume databases on the web. )ob hunters can now tap into giant on!ine databases when !aunching a search prior to interviewing. #here are three primary ways to job search e!ectronica!!y or on!ineA )ob!ines, u!!etin oard 7ystems 1 72, and the Internet. 5any emp!oyers today have their emp!oyment opportunities accessib!e through a simp!e phone ca!!. 0ou can a!so use the advanced Besume ?aster feature in Besume5aker to post your resume to a!! of the top career centers on the web for thousands of hiring emp!oyers to review. 0ou can a!so use the )ob 6inder feature to search from among more than C mi!!ion on!ine"!isted job openings for a specific job tit!e in the state you specify. #he data is a!! there, waiting for you. 13. +romote yourself in uni,ue ways. Promotion is creating an audience of potentia! emp!oyers and making them aware of your +ua!ifications. #here are many nontraditiona! ways to accomp!ish this task. 6or e%amp!e, use e!ectronic resume services to broadcast your resume. =ist yourse!f in appropriate trade association news!etters. Prepare 8 % 5 Bo!ode% cards that contain your name, address, and phone number on the front and your objective and ski!!s from your resume on the back. =eave them behind wherever you go and give them to anyone who has reason to contact you !ater about a job. 14. Accept a temporary position or volunteer work. e your own working advertisement by accepting a temporary position. #his provides you with va!uab!e e%perience, contacts, and references. Do!unteer for organi'ations and activities with

business sponsors and re!ationships that increases your visibi!ity and persona! contacts. 3%p!ore your possibi!ities and !eave a!! options open. 0ou never know which method may u!timate!y !and you your idea! job. 1!. -ake cold"calls. 4e%t to face"to"face meetings, the te!ephone is the most effective method avai!ab!e to find a job. 3very ca!! you make is an opportunity to se!! yourse!f to a prospective emp!oyer, to pursue a new job opening, or to obtain a referra!. 0our techni+ue in the initia! te!ephone ca!! can have a categorica! impact on your chances to obtain what you want from the ca!!. ?omp!ete at !east C5 ca!!s per day. 0ou wi!! be astonished at the resu!ts. -!ways be agreeab!e, gent!e, and positive. 7mi!e when you speakE the !istener wi!! hear it. Prepare a brief out!ine for each ca!! and rehearse it. ?reate brief statements that out!ine how you can he!p your prospective emp!oyer accomp!ish their goa!s. -!ways, a!ways, a!ways ask for referra!s. 1#. .e"define your job hunt in terms of alternative possibilities. 7uccessfu! job hunters a!ways have a!ternative p!ans ready in the background and imp!ement them at the first sign of difficu!ty. Prepare a!ternative ways of describing what you do, a!ternative avenues of job hunting, a!ternative !eads and contact !ists, a!ternative target organi'ations and emp!oyers to contact, a!ternative ways to approach prospective companies, and a!ternative p!ans to continue your job hunt through its successfu! comp!etion. #he jobs are out there$you just need to be sure you are using the right methods to !ook for them. 1$. eek career counselin* or job huntin* help online. 5any service providers, through the Internet, are offering career counse!ing services, job hunting advice, and reference too!s that you can turn to in your job hunt. 7ome of the best of these services are free, and the number is growing astronomica!!y each year. 0our first approach wou!d be to visit the on!ine career centers integrated with Besume5aker and visit each site to determine what services they have to offer. #here is a virtua! community just waiting to hear from you.

1&. %onsider federal and local *overnment sources. #he federa! government is a huge resource of potentia! job search information, avai!ab!e to you at !itt!e or no cost. 7evera! .epartment of =abor pub!ications, for e%amp!e, can take you through your job search from beginning to end, and he!p with career counse!ing and industry research. ?a!! your !oca! emp!oyment office and take advantage of the services they offer. 1'. -ake sure you can survive financially between jobs. udget for the time you wi!! be !ooking for a job. It is a!ways he!pfu! if you can get an overa!! view of how your money wi!! carry you through any work search or training you may need to take on. 0ou wi!! have enough worries and issues to dea! with and do not want to have to be concerned about your finances. 2). et and prioriti/e *oals while job"huntin*. 0ou need to know what you want, or

e!se you can't ask for it. #here are !itera!!y thousands of jobs open around you. .etermine what it is that you want, set your goa!s for achieving this, and prioriti'e the steps that you wi!! u!timate!y need to take. #he more specific you are about your goa!, the better your chances of getting the job you want. 21. 0ero in on a career position and research the market. efore you start meeting peop!e, you need to know something about the industry or fie!d you want to work in. #he more you know, the better your conversations with prospective emp!oyers wi!! be$and the more impressed they wi!! be with you. 22. 1nterview others for information. Interview peop!e whose occupations interest you. 0ou can a!ways find someone who has done something that at !east appro%imates what you want to do. 6ind the names of such persons, and go see, phone, or write them. 0ou wi!! !earn a great dea! that is re!evant to your dream. 23. 2r*ani/e a job search campai*n. Frgani'e your job search campaign. 6ai!ing to do so is a common f!aw in many peop!e's job search strategy. 5ake a p!an for your job search. #his entai!sA p!anning and organi'ing your job strategy, setting up a base or operations center for your job hunt, preparing materia!s, and carrying out job search tactics. 24. 3pdate your resume and be prepared. @pdate that resume( - resume is what near!y everyone you approach in your job search is going to ask for. Get your resume in top shape. @se a professiona! service or Besume5aker to prepare a show"stopping resume( 2!. 4eep yourself dedicated5 stron*5 positioned5 and consistent. )ob"hunting can certain!y be one of !ife's most stressfu! e%periences. 0ou have more power to keep the pressures of job hunting under contro!, however, than you may think. #he key is to focus your job search and stay strong, dedicated and consistent. Fne of the curious things about the human brain is that it focuses on on!y one thing at a time. 7o keep it focused on you$and finding a job(