Power-up Your Job Search!

By Pat Kendall

 Post Your Resume on High Traffic Job Sites

If confidentiality and privacy concerns are not issues for you – and if your goal is to get maximum exposure – you can post your ASCII resume on high traffic Web sites like those listed on the right. 

Resume Posting How-to:

• The ABCs of Resume Posting.
• Learn how to handle confidentiality and privacy concerns by reading Confidential Job Search.
• Get tips from the Riley Guide on where to post your resume and how to avoid common problems.
• Compare features of the most popular free job search sites at RileyGuide.com.
• Read Job-Hunt.Org's Guide to Posting Sites.

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Short List of Web Sites for Resume Posting

• FlipDog.com 
• Career Builder
• Job Agent Express
• Job Alert Options
• Job Sleuth
• Monster.com
• HotJobs.com

Post Your Resume on Geography-specific Web Sites

If you are looking for a local job (i.e., you're not willing to relocate), post your resume on local job sites. To find local job search sites, go to a search engine like www.google.com and conduct a keyword search using the word jobs plus the state where you want to work as your search criteria. For example, if you're looking for jobs in Oregon, your search criteria would look like this:

Jobs, Oregon

Additional Information: ABCs of Resume Posting

Post Your Resume on Industry-specific Sites

Industry and job-specific niche sites are easy to find with any search engine. Use the keywords job site or jobs, plus the profession, job function, or industry you're interested in. For instance, if you're looking for resume posting sites that specialize in marketing jobs, your search criteria would look something like this:

Jobs, Marketing ... OR ... Jobs, Marketing, High-tech

In addition, you can post your resume directly on most company Web sites. Simply look for the company's "jobs" or "career" section on the corporate site, and follow their submission directions to the letter.)

Customize Your Cover Letter for Each Job

Your cover letter can play a key role in your job search, so make sure it's done right! In addition to personalizing it for each employer (date, company name, contact name, etc.), your cover letter should be "tweaked" to include your most relevant keywords and accomplishments.

• Cover Letters provides helpful advice on cover letter writing.
• Pat Kendall's Cover Letters for the Wired Job Market provides the latest advice on e-mail cover letters, ASCII formatting, etc.
• Is your cover letter too pretentious? Check out the Gallery of Pretentious Cover Letter Phrases and learn what to avoid.

Set up a Search Agent

Most popular job search sites offer free job search agents that are programmed to "find" jobs for you based on your specific keyword criteria.

For example, at FlipDog you can set up as many as five JobHunters to track down jobs that match your keyword requirements. Once a JobHunter is set up, FlipDog will automatically (and continuously) send you all job opportunities that match your criteria.

Do Your Homework First!

Before setting up a search agent, take the time to properly define your keyword criteria so that you won't be bombarded with non-relevant job leads. It takes a bit of patience to find the "right" keywords, but the quality of your results should prove to be worth the effort. 

Research Your Field: Career Intelligence

If you haven't done so already, it's time to learn everything you can about your profession or the industry you're interested in.

• Who are the primary employers and their competitors?
• What is happening in your industry? What are the market trends?
• What is the long-term outlook?
• Which companies are growing, expanding, downsizing, or hiring?

Knowing what's happening in your profession will help you make more intelligent job search and career decisions.

Industry & Company Research:

• Hoovers Online: www.hoovers.com
• Dun & Bradstreet: www.dnb.com
• Thomas Register of American Manufacturers: www.thomasregister.com

Visit Jumpstart's Research Resources for other types of research sites.

The Inside Scoop:

Learn about a potential employer by checking for recent press releases: www.prnewswire.com

Market Trends / Employment Statistics:

Occupational Outlook Handbook 

Long-term outlooks and in-depth information on specific jobs and occupations.

U.S. Department of Labor 

Statistics on all aspects of the labor market, employment trends, etc.

Blast Your Resume

If privacy and confidentiality are not issues, you can launch your job search by using a specialized "blasting" service to forward your resume electronically to employers, recruiters, and job search sites.

This "shotgun" approach gets your resume into thousands of resume databases all over the Net. Costs typically range from $49.99 to $199. Get an instant price quote.

If confidentiality is an issue, be sure to follow the guidelines in Confidential Job Searching before distributing your resume.

Distribute Your Resume to Targeted Recruiters and Employers

With targeted resume distribution, your resume is e-mailed to hundreds or thousands of contacts based on criteria such as:

• Industry
• Job title or job function
• Location
• Type of recruiter
• Salary

Use our automatic quoting system to find out what targeted distribution would cost for you (Select the "Deluxe Service" option): Targeted Distribution to Employers and Recruiters

Make Connections: Network!

Savvy job seekers use every tool available to expedite their job search efforts. Check out Jumpstart Your Job Search's Networking Center for networking resources, methods, and "how to" articles.