Job Search Strategies that Work!

Written by Don Goodman, President About Jobs


So you took your resume and posted it onrepparttar job boards. You also spent hours searching forrepparttar 138540 jobs that fit your background and career goals, and you responded to a few dozen jobs. Then you waited forrepparttar 138541 phone to ring. But it didn’t. What went wrong?

Did you know thatrepparttar 138542 job boards have an effectiveness rate of less than 3% in getting people jobs? Some ofrepparttar 138543 larger boards are even worse, with less than a 1% effectiveness rate. If you think about it, everyone is usingrepparttar 138544 boards to find jobs, so you have thrown your resume intorepparttar 138545 pile of 600-1500 resumes employers are getting for every job posted. Not a particularly effective way to get noticed, is it?

Consider too that approximately 87% ofrepparttar 138546 open jobs are not even advertised! The first thing that a company does when it has an open position is ask their employees if they know anyone, internally or externally, who can fillrepparttar 138547 job. Employers would much rather have a referral from someone they know than go out torepparttar 138548 open market and hire a stranger. Many companies even offer fairly large referral bonuses if an employee’s recommendation is hired.

Typically, companies will post a position internally for 30 days before looking torepparttar 138549 outside. All this means is that byrepparttar 138550 time you seerepparttar 138551 job, if they even advertise it, they are already interviewing recommended internal and outside candidates. This doesn’t produce very good odds for getting a job through advertised positions onrepparttar 138552 web or inrepparttar 138553 paper.

So how do you get torepparttar 138554 87% of those open jobs that are not advertised. There are 3 ways: networking, headhunters and direct contact.

First of all you need to get organized so when you get that call fromrepparttar 138555 resumes you sent out, you know all aboutrepparttar 138556 company that’s calling. So keep a log detailingrepparttar 138557 name ofrepparttar 138558 company,repparttar 138559 position advertised andrepparttar 138560 dates you contacted them along with any notes. (Readers may request a free log by emailing success@gotthejob.com).

Networking is stillrepparttar 138561 best way to get a job with an effectiveness rate up to 64%. Hiring managers love people who are recommended to them since it lowersrepparttar 138562 risk ofrepparttar 138563 person not working out onrepparttar 138564 job. Aggressive networking isrepparttar 138565 key here. For everyone you call in your inner network, you should try to get 2-3 names of additional people you can call. Go to trade shows, join associations and attend their meetings. Make sure you know your “elevator pitch” –repparttar 138566 30-second statement about yourself that you would make to Bill Gates if you were with him on an elevator.

TMI: The Résumé Destroyer

Written by Pierre Daunic


Resume too long? Ugh! Boring and counterproductive. Here’s how to reducerepparttar length of your résumé by as much as a page or more without sacrificing meaning, impact, or readability.

“They say my résumé should be only one page long. Is that correct?”

Not necessarily. Many résumés are rightly two, three, or even more pages in length.

Onrepparttar 138513 other hand, many résumés are far longer than necessary. Carelessly written, they contain “TMI”—“Too Much Information”—and that mind-numbing surplus can damage or destroy a résumé’s ability to generate a job interview.

Here are some tips to help you avoid that possibility:

Eliminate “fluff.” Some of us use bloated, hackneyed, or empty phrasing that just takes up space. For example, a résumé’s objective might say something like “Accomplished Mechanical Engineer seeks an upwardly mobile, challenging position in a growing company.” Better: “A continuing career in Mechanical Engineering.” Be ruthless in cutting out language that serves no plausible purpose.

Weed outrepparttar 138514 unnecessary. Few readers enjoy plowing through overly detailed job descriptions on a résumé. Make sure your duties, responsibilities, and achievements are described in only as much detail as necessary.

Avoid “flop-overs.” Save space better used elsewhere by rewriting sentences or paragraphs that end with only a few words onrepparttar 138515 next line or onrepparttar 138516 next page. Not only will your writing look neater, but you may also save space better used elsewhere.

Downplay old experience. In most cases,repparttar 138517 last 10 – 15 years of our work experience arerepparttar 138518 most relevant to our next job. Showcase your skills and achievements in that span in as much detail as prudent. Then, shorten earlier job descriptions accordingly.

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