Starting a smart job search doesn’t mean putting your resume on to Monster or one of the other job sites and waiting for the phone to ring with job offers. Starting a job search the smart way requires organization and planning or else you will miss some of the best opportunities because you’re unprepared.
For example, people focus on getting a resume done and mailed to companies and recruiters that they forget to develop a tracking system so they know what job they will be talking about when the phone rings.
I can’t tell you the number of times someone has asked me, “Which job is this for,” when I started speaking, instead of being prepared out of the chute when they hear my name.
In thirty years job hunting has changed a lot. Job hunting isn’t just reading ads on the web and flipping resumes to companies like burgers at a fast food restaurant. It’s about effectively using all the resources available to you and putting together a long-term campaign
There are many ways to get organized, ranging from pen, paper and folder to automated or web hosted tools. For example, in days of old, people would clip newspaper ads and copies of the resume they mailed (yes, mailed) and kept them in a folder for easy access when the phone rang. Today with cell phones, you might simplify this.
If you’re out of work and running your search from home, you can use Outlook to track each ad you’ve responded to with which version of your resume.Outlook has an app for mobile devices so the info a=can follow you.
You can use any other technology you are good with.
Just do something!
Remember, everything you do poorly costs you money when it comes time to extend a job offer.
© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2016
