Effective CVs & Smart Job Search

How prepared are you for planning and conducting an effective job search?
Successful job seekers must have both good information and well-developed job hunting skills.

Three important factors for a successful job search are

An awareness of your goals and skills

An understanding of the labor market, and

A well planned job search campaign.

Experts recommend that you begin an active job search six to nine months in advance of your target employment date.

You can begin the process by visiting the Career Center early (for students, nine months to a year before graduation).


Ten Time Saving Tips to Speed Up Your Job Search

Be Prepared.

Have a telephone answering machine or voice mail system in place and sign-up for a professional sounding email address. Put your cell phone number on your resume so you can follow up in a timely manner.

Be More Than Prepared.

Always have an up-to-date resume ready to send - even if you are not currently looking for work. You never know when an opportunity that is too good to pass up might come along. Have a supply of good quality resume paper, envelopes and stamps on hand.

Don't Wait.

If you are laid-off, file for unemployment benefits right away. You may be able to file online or by phone. Waiting could delay your benefits check.

Get Help.

Utilize free or inexpensive services that provide career counseling and job search assistance such as college career offices, state Department of Labor offices or your local public library.

Create Your Own Templates.

Have email and paper versions of your resume and cover letter ready to edit. That way you can change the content to match the requirements of the job you're applying for, but, the contact information and your opening and closing paragraphs won't need to be changed.

Use Job Search Engines.

Search the job search engines. Use the sites that search the major job banks, employer sites and electronic news groups for you.

Jobs by Email.

Let the jobs come to you. Use job search agents to sign up and receive job listings by email. All the major job sites have search agents and some web sites specialize in sending announcements.

Use Your Network.

Be cognizant of the fact that many, if not most, job openings aren't advertised. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for work. Ask if they can help



The following list summarizes the most important Boolean rules.

To get the best results from any specific job database, however, study its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and use its online tutorial, if one is provided.

Rule #1.
The characteristics (i.e., the individual words, terms or phrases) that you use to describe your dream job are called "key words" on the Internet. They are normally entered in all lower case letters because capitalization makes them cases sensitive. In other words, if you capitalize a key word, the computer will identify only those jobs where that word is capitalized. If you use all lower case letters, the computer will identify every job that contains the word, whether it is capitalized or not.

Rule #2.
To link two characteristics together, both of which are required in your dream job, use the Boolean operator AND. Boolean operators are normally expressed in all capital letters. In the example above, you might use the following expression to tell the computer what kind of job you want: $50,000 AND hospitality. This expression tells the computer that you want it to identify any job in its database that offers both characteristics. It must pay $50,000, and it must be in the hospitality industry. If either one of those factors is missing, you do not want to see the job.

Rule #3.
To tell the computer that the characteristic for which you are looking is a phrase rather than a single word, use quotation marks. For example: "facility manager" AND Rs.50,000 AND hospitality.

Rule #4.
To link two characteristics together, either one of which is acceptable in your dream job, use the Boolean operator OR. For example, Milwaukee OR "Green Bay". Note that using capital letters with city or state names is acceptable as they are seldom expressed any other way.

Rule #5.
To link two characteristics together when they are part of a longer set of characteristics, use parentheses. For example, "facility manager" AND RS.50,000 AND hospitality AND (Milwaukee OR "Green Bay").

Rule #6.
To account for the fact that different people use different terms to express the same idea, always include any synonyms of your characteristics and, wherever possible, use a Boolean operator called a wildcard.


The 7 Bad Habits of Ineffective Job Seekers

Habits can be good for you. As Stephen Covey pointed out in his landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the right behavior patterns can propel you to great success. Unfortunately, however, there's also a dark side to habits. Habits can be good, and they can be bad. And, the wrong behavior patterns can constrain your opportunities and, ultimately, derail your advancement in the world of work. What are the bad habits of online job search? With a nod to Dr. Covey, I think there are seven.

I call them The 7 Bad Habits of Ineffective Job Seekers. They are:

Habit #1: Limiting the time and effort you invest in your job search

Habit #2: Limiting the research you do to plan your search campaign

Habit #3: Limiting your search to a handful of the same job boards

Habit #4: Limiting your application to clicking on the Submit button

Habit #5: Limiting your use of the Internet to reading job postings

Habit #6: Limiting the care you take with your communications

Habit #7: Limiting the preparation you do for employer interactions


Details on these bad habits :

Habit #1:
Limiting the time and effort you invest in your job search
As the old axiom goes, looking for a job is a full time job. That's true whether you're conducting your search online or off. A job search on the Internet, however, exposes you to many potential distractions that are not found in the real world. There's e-mail and browsing, chats and discussion forums, online poker and other games, and a host of other forms of entertainment, exploration and communication. And the key to job search success is to put them all aside. You must dramatically limit the time you spend on such activities and maximize the time you spend using the Internet's job search resources.

Habit #2:
Limiting the research you do to plan your search campaign
The #1 reason people don't work out when they're hired by an employer is not that they can't do the job, but that they don't fit in. In other words, they take the right job with the wrong employer. Doing careful, thorough research helps you avoid the negative consequences of such a situation: When you go to work for the wrong employer, your performance goes down which can, in turn, hurt your standing in your field; you waste time that could have been spent searching for your dream opportunity—the right job with the right employer; and you risk losing that opportunity to someone else who's active in the job market. To put it another way, inadequate research virtually guarantees an inadequate work experience. And the alternative is right at your fingertips. Use the Internet to assess alternative employer's culture, management, values and performance, and the focus your search on those organizations where you're likely to feel comfortable (and do your best work).

Habit #3:
Limiting your search to a handful of the same job boards
There are over 40,000 job boards in operation on the Internet. In addition to the ones that you've seen advertised, there are thousands and thousands of others that you may not have heard about. Collectively, they post over two million new openings every month. To find your dream job online, therefore, you have to use enough sites to cover the job market and the right ones to satisfy your search objective. The formula 2GP + 3N + 2D will ensure you do that. It involves using two general purpose sites that offer opportunities in a broad array of professions, industries and locations; three niche sites, including one that specializes in your career field, one that specializes in your industry, and one that specializes in the geographic area where you want to live; and two distinction sites that focus on one or more of your personal attributes (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, college, military service). I call it the 7:1 Method; use seven of the right sites to find the one right job for you.

Habit #4:
Limiting your application to clicking on the Submit button
The competition for jobs today, particularly the best positions, is simply too tough for you to do nothing more than show up online and submit your resume. If you find your dream job and want to position yourself for serious consideration by the employer, you have to practice the "application two-step." Step 1 involves submitting your credentials exactly as specified by the employer and exactly for that job. It's a test to see if you can follow instructions and will take the time to tailor your resume for the position you want. Step 2 involves networking to set yourself apart from the horde of other applicants who are also likely to submit their resume for that opening. Your goal is to find a personal or professional contact who works for the employer and will walk your resume in the door of the HR Department and lay it on the desk of the recruiter assigned to fill your dream job.

Habit #5:
Limiting your use of the Internet to reading job postings
As in the real world, recruitment ads posted online reveal only a portion of the job market. There are many more openings, including some of the best positions, that aren't advertised. To find this so-called "hidden job market," you have to make contact and develop relationships with others online. That's called electronic networking. It's done by participating in discussion forums and bulletin boards hosted on the sites of such groups as your professional association and college alumni organization. To get the most out of your involvement, practice the Golden Rule of Networking: Give as good as you get. Share your knowledge and expertise with others in these online discussions, so that they will be inclined to share their knowledge of job openings and their connections in the workforce with you.

Habit #6:
Limiting the care you take with your communications
E-mail is often viewed as an informal communication medium where typos and slang are not only appropriate, but expected. When you're looking for a job, however, e-mail is strictly a business communication. Every message makes an impression on the recruiter and other representatives of the employer who receive it, and that impression becomes a part of the data used to evaluate you. To make the right impression, carefully edit and proofread every message before you send it off. Don't use stilted or flowery language, but do be formal and professional in what you write. Take the time and make the effort to eliminate grammatical errors and misspellings and ensure that your points are clearly and accurately expressed. Doing so tells the employer that you take pride in what you do, and that attribute makes you a stronger candidate.

Habit #7:
Limiting the preparation you do for employer interactions
In today's highly competitive job market, the interview begins in the first nanosecond of the first contact with an employer. That means you have to be well prepared and at the top of your game virtually all of the time. What does that entail? First, make sure that you thoroughly investigate each employer to which you apply. Visit its Web-site, use a browser to search for information published by other sources, and check out the commentary and research available at such sites as Vault.com and Wetfeet.com. Then, use the formal and informal educational resources on the Internet to stay at the state-of-the-art in your field and up-to-the-minute on your industry. Finally, use the information and insights you've acquired to hone your ability to articulate the contribution you will make to the employer, during every interaction you have with its representatives. All of us get into a rut from time-to-time. We put ourselves on autopilot and fall back on habits. It's a benign way to relieve some of the workload and pressure in today's demanding business environment. When you're looking for a new or better job, however, those ruts can be harmful; they can lead to behavior that limits your opportunity and potential success. They are the 7 bad habits of ineffective job seekers—the ruts in the road to your dream job.


Review the following list of values and check those most important to you.

Then rank your top five values in order of priority.

01. Job security

02. Working as part of a team

03. Working independently with little supervision

04. Making a contribution

05. Professional status

06. Mental challenge

07. Pleasant surroundings

08. Challenging, stimulating co-workers

09. Different tasks to accomplish daily

10. Financial rewards

11. Creating something

12. Ability to advance




Preparing Your Resume or Curriculum Vitae

The foundation of your job search should be a good, solid resume (which may also be called a curriculum vitae or vita). The curriculum vitae describes in detail one's professional career over the course of one's life, including both work experiences and qualifications. It is primarily used when pursuing opportunities in an academic setting. Although the curriculum vitae and resume have the same function, the differences between the two are length and format. In the business world, the standard resume is usually no more than two pages in length. An effective resume gets your foot in the door and it may lead to personal interviews.

Your resume should be detailed enough to give employers the information necessary to assess your qualifications for the job opening. At the same time, it should be concise. It's essential that your resume be word processed; if you can't word process it yourself, hire a word processor. The few dollars you pay to have it word processed will prove to be one of the best investments you will make. You may use your resume for several different purposes:

include one with a "blind"' letter of inquiry about a job opening;

send one with a cover letter in response to an advertised position;

attach one to a standard job application; or

take it with you on a job interview.



Six steps are used to conduct an effective job search
1. Begin with Self-Assessment
2. Research and Explore Career Options
3. Choose a Career Field, then Target Employers
4. Prepare Job Search Materials and Develop Job Search Skills
5. Plan and Conduct Job Search Campaign
6. Obtain Offer and Continue to Develop Your Career Action Plan