December 2003
The 12 Major Tips to Succeeding in the Internet Job Search
By
President of Workforce Associates
and author of
NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet
Available online and in print from Author House
November was a busy month for me, giving a talk to librarians about how to help job hunters in their Internet searching and preparing electronic resumes. We had a lively discussion about issues that their patrons face. Here is a summary of them, which should be helpful to new readers and a tickler to the regulars of this column. I’m paraphrasing that favorite holiday carol, "The 12 Days of Christmas" into the 12 major tips for successful Internet job searching:
1) The importance of having multiple free email addresses to make it easier for applicants to have a tickler for each general category of resume that they produce. For example, Juno can be used for a management oriented resume, and HotMail can be used for a new career that you’d like to pursue, etc.
2) Why each resume needs to be customized for each job description. Applicant tracking systems will "kick out" generic resumes that are not tied closely enough with the job description and the company’s corporate climate.
Be sure to create a customized objective for each job that you’re applying for. Here’s an example of an objective that you can modify for your own purposes:
Objective: "To secure a position as a mechanical drafter or designer with an established organization, utilizing my extensive drafting skills, technical knowledge and experience with AutoCAD."
Take advantage of the subject line to write something clever about your job application.
Save a copy of each resume so you know what you’ve sent when you’re invited in for an interview.
3) Harness the value of action verbs and phrases in the keyword section. Keywords are an extension of the noun concept and are also called buzzwords or descriptors. Keywords are words employers search for when trying to fill a position. They are the essential characteristics required to do the job: your relevant education, experience, skills, knowledge and abilities. The more keyword marketing points you present about yourself, the more likely you are to be plucked from an electronic résumé database now or in a year from now.
Here’s an example of a keyword section that helped a friend of mine secure a recent professional position and two additional offers besides!
Keywords: "Extensive professional experience in development and implementation of many different kinds of projects such as B2B marketing and outreach, sales, market analysis and research, resource development, strategic business planning, and general project management. Proven ability to set goals and devise action plans to achieve them in medical sales and services, educational services, economic development, workforce development, etc. Highly networked individual with significant public and private sector contacts."
4) Check out your prospective employer’s website and that of the competition. Take advantage of a company’s website to get a sense of what the company values. Paraphrase the terms that the company uses to describe whether it’s a competitive environment, teamwork and cooperative, public service driven, etc. into your keyword section and throughout your resume. Check out Vault for comments about the company’s corporate culture to see what current employees and applicants are really experiencing, not just what the company is mouthing! There is no excuse in this Internet day and age NOT to thoroughly understand the nature of the company’s products and services yet applicants continue to be lazy in not researching a company through all the cyberspace outlets that are available.
Learn to harness Google and the other search engines as well as online business newspapers for the latest info re a company. Hoover's Online and The Journalist's Toolbox are also very helpful tools.
5) There is a tendency by male applicants NOT to want anyone to know that they’re looking for a new position or opportunity. Swallow your pride and invite comments and helpful suggestions from your greatest supporters, your friends and family! They’ll suggest descriptive adjectives to describe you. They’ll probably also remember job experiences that you’ve forgotten. I call this "selective amnesia" that hits the 40+ crowd. They tend to minimize their accomplishments while friends and family remember and laud them.
6) HR professionals and applicant tracking systems are paranoid about attachments because of the danger of viruses attacking their systems. Therefore, Do NOT attach your electronic resume. Just copy and paste your resume into the body of the email under a short cover letter.
7) Create a functional resume rather than a chronological one. This will stress what you have contributed in related job experiences, not the time that you spent on each job. Tell a short story with punchy action words about what you did on that job that made a difference. For example, how much did you lower costs? Improved productivity quantitatively? Got major projects out under budget and before deadlines? Improved morale?
8) Do not write dates of your college graduation or your job experiences. HR folks do NOT want to know how old you are for fear of age discrimination suits! This also allows you NOT to have to explain gaps in your employment. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should lie or prevaricate at an interview. Tell an interviewer honestly what you were doing during gaps in employment. Hopefully, you were volunteering and improving your skills — not waiting for the phone to ring!
9) Be sure to check all your resumes with the handy F7 key. It’s amazing to me that folks don’t know about this key. HR folks are anal about correct spelling and grammar. They’ll kick out the best resume in the world if it’s sloppily written. It speaks volumes about not being careful about attention to detail.
10) There are hundreds of websites for job searching. Make a point to monitor at least five job boards daily. New positions are being posted daily, so the sooner you respond to these opportunities, the sooner that you’ll be considered for the position.
11) Check out entrepreneurial websites. According to a recent study, those who are in business for themselves are making much more money than the traditional wage slaves. Your local Small Business Administration office can be very helpful in giving you ideas, resources, and counseling about job opportunities. SCORE is made up of retired executives who often work with SBA staffs. They have an excellent website and email newsletters that will be very helpful. Another source of information is the Kauffman Foundation that promotes entrepreneurship. They have excellent materials called Fast Track that help prepare entrepreneurial wannabees with business plans and ideas for new business opportunities. Another group that works with youngsters to develop their entrepreneurial spirit and acumen is Junior Achievement. Their boards are made up of entrepreneurial businessmen who can also be helpful to you.
12) Don’t hide behind the Internet. Get out and network! No matter how good your electronic resume is for a prospective job, there is no substitute for getting on the telephone and out to meet people who can be helpful to you. Networking is essential to finding leads that you may not have noticed in my favorite websites such as Craiglist, CareerBuilder, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Quintessential Careers. Although networking is not always comfortable, it's a marketing strategy that gets results. Take advantage of the holidays and all the parties and celebrations that abound to talk to folks about your job search. Have a business card made up that gives your qualifications on one side and your name, address, phone number, email address, and website on the other to remind folks to contact you about leads.
All the best for the holiday season! Happy 2004!
Sincerely,
Jane M. Lommel, Ph.D.
jlommel@WorkforceAssociates.com
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