Having a great resume is
first critical step in a successful job search. Unfortunately, most people don’t know
best ways to get that resume noticed. In today’s job market, where you are competing with hundreds of other resumes, knowing
right way to distribute your resume can make all
difference.First of all you need to get organized and stay organized. When you get that call from
200 resumes you sent out, you need to make sure you are ready to show that you know all about
company that’s calling. So keep a log detailing
name of
company,
position advertised and
dates you contacted them along with any notes. (Readers may request a free log by e-mailing success@gotthejob.com).
Next post your resume on
job boards. Note that
job boards are not
most effective way to get a job with most of them having an effectiveness rate of less than 3%. Nonetheless, they should be a part of your strategy. Put your resume on
large job boards and be sure to find
job boards that are specific to your profession as many employers are skipping
expensive giants and focusing their search.
To post your resume, you’ll need an electronic (or ASCII) version of your resume. You can do this by opening your resume in MS Word, hitting File-Save As and choosing Text Only. This will create a .txt version of your resume. Close
file, reopen it and edit out any stray characters left over from your bullets and other graphics characters. This file will now cut and paste into web sites and e-mails and automatically format itself. When you post to
job boards, remember to setup search agents that automatically tell you about a new job posting. This will let you be one of
first ones to apply.
Next find
advertised positions that meet your criteria. You can do this by surfing
job boards, checking
papers and looking at company web sites. Don’t forget to look at trade publications as less people respond to those ads meaning you’re up against less competition. As much as possible, try to find
name of
hiring manager and address your correspondence directly to them.
Now revise your cover letter to fit
ad. Remember that an employer will look at your cover letter for 3-7 seconds, so keep it brief and easy to read using white space and bullets. Do not try to repeat what is already in your resume. Instead, tell them how you meet
criteria they mentioned in their advertisement. Then proofread
cover letter as any mistakes will eliminate you.