Looking for a new job is stressful enough sowhy complicate it more by the frustrations of being unorganized when searching? Here are a few tips that can help streamline things, and make the job search a bit less stressful:
This first suggestion can keep things professional and separated from normal life, but may not be for everyone. In order to monitor responses from possible job opportunities, sign up for a low cost voice mailing system to receive your messages. Of course this may also be accomplished by making sure your cell number is your main contact. Just be sure to remember to check your outgoing message on there; you want to insure that the message is professional and not your typical street-talk message. Whatever road you take, you want to have a system in place that allows you to quickly discover when a call has come in, and respond to the messages as promptly as possible.
You should always have your resume on file, updated, and easily accessible. You may not even be actively looking for a job, but always having it updated and at hand allows for a quick turnaround if an opportunity presents itself and you need to have one. Also, it is good to have a couple different versions of your resume (or at least a resume template that can be easily and quickly edited) and cover letter, so that you can tweak it to better conform to the skill requirements of various positions. While your skills do not necessarily change, a certain poaition may require a different set of skills than another position, and fine-tuning your resume to highlight skills you possess that are directly related to the position in question is better than just a generic resume with no specific skills in focus.
If you get laid off, do not waste time, but go and immediately file for unemployment. Check and see what your local office has available, as you may be able to do this online or over the phone. If you wait too long, you will delay the arrival of the checks.
Check in your local area for free or cheap services, like Department of Labor office, college career job placement offices, or other sources of job placement assistance, and job search sites like ours. Many employers may list positions through these types of services before they ever make them "public" through advertising in the paper, etc. You can also sign up for various job search agents that provide periodic emails for open positions. Check these services frequently, and respond to eligible opens promptly.
These are just a few tips to help you find that position you are looking for. If you have any tried and true tips you'd like to share, feel free to comment below.
Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Utilities Jobsite blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites
.
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!