Enhance Your Job Search

Given the current economic conditions, it’s that much more imperative to enhance your job search so here are a few common sense tips for strategizing:

• Your resume should outline your experience, education and skill set clearly and effectively.  Have a few resumes targeted towards different types of positions.  A generic resume in today’s competitive marketplace will lose its effectiveness.  Most of our clients prefer to view chronological resumes in which there is a description of job duties under each heading of employer name, job title with dates.

 

• Write your resume in Microsoft Word and save it as a Word document in your name (i.e. NAME.doc).  This then will allow for easy search of your resume by the recruiter or hiring manager.

 

• Don’t apply for jobs which you are not qualified.  Recruiters as well as employers are not looking for someone who perhaps can perform the job but rather they want someone who has and can clearly perform all or most of the job duties as outlined in the job description.  Recruiters and hiring managers bear the brunt of a candidate’s lack of focus if he/she applies for a job unrelated to his/her skill set.  It takes a long time to look through tons of resumes and those involved are always looking for ways to simplify the recruitment process (not clutter it).  Additionally, for your sake, frustration could then set in as you start to feel of lack of feedback from the recruiters and employers which could then slow down your enthusiasm during your job search.

 

• To avoid being discouraged in your job search, we think there is a higher reward for you to spend your energy on job openings that are more closely related to your background and skill set.  Don’t waste time on jobs that you won’t get but rather build a good strategy and network for jobs that you really should be targeting.

 

• How do you know if you are qualified for a particular job?  Pay attention to the job description and the parts that say “required” versus “preferred.”  If you have experience with most of the “Must Have” requirements, then submit your resume and make sure that specific experience is outlined on your resume.