The weakness of our economy has taken a tremendous toll on the current job market, making it difficult and next to impossible to land a good job. This is especially frustrating for most recent college graduates who are out there competing with laid off workers with years of experience under their belts. As frustrating as it may be you can't give up on your job search simply because you are not getting any feedback. Before you decide to throw in the towel and run back to school for another four or five years make sure you take a second look at the steps you are taking in searching and applying for your perfect job.
The first and most important step is reviewing your resume. Dust it off and revamp that sucker! Make sure you are not selling yourself short. Ask yourself if there are any skills you have not listed? Any academic achievements you can elaborate on? Groups or associations which you held positions in? Summer jobs which could be relevant to the type of position you are currently looking for? Relevant coursework? All of these sections are often overlooked in resumes and therefore make you less of a marketable candidate.
The second step is drafting a well thought out cover letter. Do you send out the same generic cover letter to each job you apply for? This shouldn't be the case. While it is good to have a generic cover letter ready, it should only be used as a starting point for the specific and more detailed cover letters you should be sending out. Make sure to include specific examples of work related situations which demonstrate a quality that is desirable for the particular job you are applying for. It is also important to mention what makes you the most qualified candidate for the job. What qualities you will bring to the position that will make you stand out above all the other candidates.
The last step is the job search itself. How are you going about your search? The
Internet is obviously the most powerful source you can tap into for your search. You need to be looking at job posting sites such as
careerbuilder, monster and
hotjobs. Aside from the obvious and most popular sites there are a few other less recognized sites such as
telecraig and
oodle. Another resource to tap into is recruiting firms. I know we all cringe at the thought of having to walk into an office full of recruiters and go through these "skills" tests in order to be placed into a temp job somewhere. As dreadful as it sounds these recruiting offices have access to a large amount of jobs that are not always posted. Sending your resume out to a recruiter is a great way to maximize your search because you have another person out there looking out for you. What about searching the old fashioned way and grabbing a newspaper? Yes they still print those! You should make it a habit to browse through the classified sections as well. You never know what you might find. Another great resource are your family and friends. Send them your resume and ask them if there are any job openings in any of the companies they work for or if they can pass your resume on to someone else. Word of mouth is one of the best forms of networking!
I hope these tips have been helpful to all the job seekers out there. If there are any other tips or suggestions you have for our readers feel free to send them in and we will post them!!
Good luck and happy job hunting!
Need Help with your resume? Check out
Lazyassresumes at
http://www.lazyassresumes.com/index.html or contact the folks at HR Brigade for some assistance (
HR_Brigade@yahoo.com).
