titles and requirements, an eye-glazing gaggle of classified ads, and a
mind-numbing barrage of tips and tricks. Finding a job isn’t as easy as it
might sound. It can be a rather daunting task, and something everyone has
had to do, or will have to do, at some point in life.
They are not just job-hunting clichés and advice from
those who have achieved success. Pumping palms to network and getting your
foot in the door for a face-to-face interview will always be a guaranteed
way to make an impression and ensure the most success when looking for a
However, put away the red markers and stacks of
classifieds because it’s time to consider the click factor. The Internet has
become the perfect way to get a jumpstart on the search for that perfect
job. It’s not only teeming with valuable resources and information, but many
employers are now turning to the Internet to gain access to posted resumes
instead of posting classified ads. The World Wide Web truly is a treasure
trove of useful information for the job seeker.
Always Research First
The first step is to know what you want to do, and what
type of job you’re looking for. The Occupational Outlook Handbook (www.bls.gov/oco),
from the federal government, provides useful information on the job market
with career guides to a variety of industries, as well as occupations. See
the JobHuntersBible (www.jobhuntersbible.com)
for articles and links to websites where you can get help identifying your
skills and interests and the kinds of jobs you will probably do best.
Use Job-Hunt’s Pick Your Employer section ()
to check out potential employers. You’ll find links to articles and research
about employers, employer websites, and links to research on top employers
are available. In Job-Hunt, each state’s page has job-market information for
that particular state, usually including a list of the state’s largest
employers, occupations that appear to be growing, as well as those that
appear to be declining.
Build Your Resume
When it comes to online applications and resume posts,
you’re not meeting your employer face to face. So, your resume has to do the
talking for you — and it needs to make a great first impression for you to
get an interview. For tips and tricks on how to compose an attention-getting
resume, check out ResumeResource.com (www.resume-resource.com).
If you go to Google.com and type in “job search,” the
website will pull up 522,000,000 results. Instead of sifting through these
sorted sites, check out the following top three mega-sites.
1.3 million jobs are available at CareerBuilder.Com. It
doesn’t cost anything to post your resume. However, it will cost employers
to search through the database of resumes. On this site, you can post your
resume and complete your profile in as little as 10 minutes.
If you’re employed and don’t want to risk your employer
searching the database and seeing your information, don’t worry,
CareerBuilder.com will allow you to post your resume and information
somewhat anonymously (only your name, email address, and phone number are
excluded). Job seekers can apply for as many jobs as they like, and also
receive job announcements via email that meet your specified criteria.
The site has numerous job listings in a variety of
categories and all have brief descriptions. There is also a large supply of
work-at-home opportunities listed.
a keyword search. This becomes a problem if you can’t find your specialized
job in any of the listed industry categories.
On Monster.com, job seekers can look up potential jobs
by geographic area, job category, and specific keywords. You can even search
by company name. Once job seekers sign up for a free Monster.com membership,
Monster Networking hooks up people in the same industry to provide possible
In addition to the seemingly endless job postings,
Monster.com offers excellent career advice on resumes, interviewing, and
salary information. Members of the network also give rated feedback on each
Indeed.com is a specialized job search engine that
searches “all the job listings from major job boards, newspapers,
associations and company career pages.” The site claimed 1,077,477 new
searchable jobs posted one recent week. You can narrow your search by
keyword, location, and job title. There are also more advanced search
options that enable you to narrow your search even further.
Under the normal search option, you can search by
location, salary estimate, title, company, job type, or employer.