Job searching is always a tough gig, but at least the digital age has refined the process of searching and applying for jobs and taken us away from the pencil-and-Classifieds days. Even networking can be accomplished online, allowing job seekers to get more mileage out of the time they spend looking for work.
To begin your jobs search, you’ll want to figure out your keywords to use in jobs search engines such as Indeed, Monster and Careerbuilder. You might want to consider using LinkedIn to look at the jobs of people you know – and their friends and co-workers – to figure out just what kind of position title you’re looking for, if you aren’t sure. That might also give you other ideas for related positions with different titles or in slightly different fields. Once you find some links to jobs that look promising from your search, go directly to the company’s website to apply.
When applying online, you face a bit of a challenge in getting your resume seen. There are a few things you can do to get your resume into the right hands:
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Make sure similar verbiage to the job requirements is in your resume, even if it means making slight modifications to each resume you submit. That will ensure that any automated screening processes are satisfied by your resume.
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Write or upload a short cover letter that explains how your skill sets and experience are a match for the position.
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Look for an advocate within the company. If you’re former military or a member of another special group, large companies may have a dedicated advocate for you. Otherwise, you can return to LinkedIn to see if you have any shared (or even third-hand) connections with the company. If you can find someone at the company to refer your resume to HR – along with your formal resume submission through their website – your resume will be seen and favored.
After you’ve been contacted by the company for an interview or with further information, follow-up promptly thanking your point of contact. If you don’t receive anything from the company – which happens quite often – they you may want to follow-up with a polite, friendly e-mail to the company’s recruiters.
As you can tell, networking is just as important in the digital age as ever. So reach out for help using your social networking tools:
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Tell your Facebook friends you’re looking for work. They may know someone, even if they can’t help you directly.
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Join alumni groups and industry groups on LinkedIn, and participate actively in discussions when you can. Many of these groups have a job postings board and will even allow you to post your resume.
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Be sure your resume is up to date on LinkedIn and be clear what your employment goal is.
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Whenever someone does try to help you – successful or not – be sure to send them a warm thank-you so they’ll try again and tell others about you.
Most people are eager to help others, so let them help you!
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Personal Capital lets you see all of your accounts in one convenient place. Sign up now for free.Job searching is tough, but just as the internet has improved our lives in many ways, it can also improve our job search.
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