Sunday, August 30, 2009

Using an Employment Guide to Find a Job

As you can well imagine, looking for a job poses no real challenge at all, but it's actually finding a job that's the hard part. Once you embark on your mission to find employment, you may soon discover that an employment guide is worth its weight in gold. Not only can a good employment resource guide provide you with the necessary tools to ensure that interviews go smoothly, but it can also help you to navigate through the job market.

Pen Your Resume. Considering that you cannot even apply for a job until such time you have written your resume, it only makes sense that you do so before you even start looking through the classified ads. In this respect, an employment resource guide can be invaluable in that it can help you in gathering all the necessary information and then putting it down on paper. Remember, your resume should not only show what professional experience you have, but it should also highlight your skills and the education you have. Above all, it needs to be written in such a way so that it stands out from the crowd, bearing in mind that hiring managers receive numerous resumes and you want yours to be noticed. Providing you use a good employment resource guide, you should then have a blueprint for a first class, professional looking resume.

Discuss Your Desires With Friends and Family. One of the best resources in terms of job leads is your friends and family members. Practically all employment guides will suggest that you speak to your friends and family members in order to determine whether or not there are job vacancies at the different companies they work for. Of course, friends are also sometimes able to advise you as to whether or not the company they work for is busy hiring.

The Value of Newspapers. As you no doubt already know, classified ads are one of the first places people look when they're searching for a job. The only problem is that you are not the only one looking in the classifieds, in that there are hundreds, if not thousands of others doing the exact same thing. Once again, an employment resource guide can help you to determine which adds are worthwhile pursuing and which ones you should simply choose to ignore.

Make Use of Online Job Boards

Get In Touch With Those Companies That Interest You. If you know of any particular companies that you would like to work for, you could of course go ahead and cold call them. In addition to calling them, you could send in your resume together with a professionally written cover letter. Remember, not all companies bother advertising each and every position which becomes available, and as such, you just might strike it lucky. If you decide to take this approach, then your cover letter should ideally allow some room with regards to your choice of positions. Furthermore, it should also place some emphasis on your skills and any experience you may have which the company may deem as being beneficial.

Follow Up. After you send your resume and cover letter, give it a week or two, and then follow up. An employment guide will tell you to include in your cover letter that you will be following up within a certain amount of time. Do include this information, but then make sure that you actually do it. Give the hiring manager a call; ask if they have any questions or if they need any further information.

The importance of being creative. The job market to day is vastly different to what it was in the past, in that many industries, businesses, and corporations are quite literally flooded with applications. With such a tremendous amount of competition it can be extremely challenging to have your application noticed, and to have it stand out above the rest. In order to achieve this, your application needs to be as creative as possible. In other words, you need to come up with something which a hiring manager will find to be interesting and tempting. For example, you could go as far as including a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation outlining any relevant experience you may have, as well as your various skills and accomplishments. If you find you're at a loss with regards to a creative idea then of course you should check with an employment resource guide.

Write a Thank You Note. Any employment guide will tell you that the interview does not end when you walk out of the office. No, that hiring manager is thinking about you, considering you, all the while talking to and thinking about many other applicants. Keep your name fresh in that hiring manager's mind by sending a thank you note after the interview. Keep it simple and brief, telling him or her how excited you are and how you see yourself contributing to the company or project. Also thank them for taking the time to see you. It could be the one thing that sets you apart. And in this market, that is exactly what you want.

0 comments: