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When I first started job hunting on the Internet, I would spend countless hours searching for anything and everything. I would search one site, then jump to another, and search some more. One of the most frustrating things about job searching on the Internet is that most of the same job postings are duplicated across hundreds of job search sites! It's like having three hundred Houston Chronicles from the same day on your desk! --- Why so many? --- Monster.com (http://www.monster.com) and Headhunter.net (http://www.headhunter.net) contain numerous newly posted job opportunities. Out of those opportunities, the webmasters of a hundred or so telecommuting sites search for work-at-home jobs and post those jobs on their sites. Out of those jobs, numerous career-specific site webmasters extract work-at-home jobs in their career categories. In a matter of minutes, one job is duplicated hundreds of times on various sites. Another place to search for opportunities is in the USENET newsgroups. The newsgroups have hundreds of jobs posted from various recruiters and employers. But, many of the smaller posting sites go to the USENET and post those jobs on their sites as well. Again, the same job posting is duplicated numerous times. You could spend an entire week hunting for jobs and see the same job posted 60 times on 100 sites! --- I'm over here! --- Numerous companies don't post their jobs because they don't want to be inundated by unqualified resume posters. Instead, these companies search for resumes on various sites. To make sure that you're seen, post your resume on several job sites and update it often! The easiest way to do this is to create a text version of your resume as follows: 1. Create your professional resume in your favorite word processor. Make sure it's correct and all spelling and grammatical errors are resolved. 2. Export the resume to a text file. 3. Edit the text file and, for each "paragraph," remove all internal carriage-returns. If you look at it in Notepad with word-wrap turned off, each paragraph should be on a single, long line. Since many sites automatically word-wrap your text, this will prepare the resume for proper formatting. 4. When you post the resume, simply paste it into the resume site's entry form. It's a good idea to keep the resume's length to about two or three pages since many sites don't accept anything more than 8,000 to 12,000 characters. If you're concerned about leaving out important job-related talents, add a short section at the top of the resume that lists the information (e.g., ASP, ODBC, CORBA, etc.) This will provide the needed keywords for the search while minimizing the length of the resume. Some of the better posting sites include: * Monster.com - http://www.monster.com/ * Headhunter.net - http://www.headhunter.net * Guru.com - http://www.guru.com * Ants.com - http://www.ants.com/ants/ * CareerShop - http://www.careershop.com/ * Employment911 - http://www.employment911.com/ * Net-Temps - http://www.net-temps.com/ Don't be surprised if you're already posted on some of the sites. Believe it or not, many of the larger search sites also own and operate some of the smaller sites. This way, they have various front-ends to attract individuals while using the same core data. The important point here is: don't waste time posting to every site you find---target your postings for the greatest exposure. Once you have it posted, make sure that you update the resume at least once a month. I noticed that when I edit my resume and update it, I get a few hits from various companies and recruiters. This happens because the resume is raised to the top of the stack again. If you notice that your hits are decreasing after an update, delete the old account and start a new one on the target sites. This will give recruiters and potential employers fresh meat to go after when they search for candidates to fill their positions. It's also a good idea to post a resume on your Web site. It doesn't have to be promoted to any search engines, but you can send the URL to prospective employers so they can see your experience. I broke my resume up into several pieces (i.e., Education, Experience, Skills, etc.) and created an e-book style presentation. I also added some of my work in a Samples section for their review. This way, potential employers can see my resume without having to download a lengthy document. --- The Search Methods --- One definite way to reduce the amount of time you spend searching is to visit "meta-search engines." A meta-search engine is one that provides a front-end to search several other search engines. In other words, when you type in a keyword, the engine searches other sites in parallel and returns the results to you. Some of the more relevant keywords I've successfully used with meta-search engines include: freelance, telecommute, telecommuting, telecommuter, <your field>, work at home, work from home, telework, off-site, offsite. The <your field> keyword includes any keyword that would apply to your field or any field of your choice. Some of the more popular meta-search engines are as follows: * JobSleuth - http://www.jobsleuth.com * Job Search Engine - http://www.jobsearchengine.com/ * Wanted Jobs - http://www.wantedjobs.com/ * JobVertise - http://www.jobvertise.com These meta-search sites reduce the number of different sites you'll have to visit by bringing the results back to you. Note that JobVertise is not an actual meta-search engine, but it is updated from several different locations periodically. Another group of time-wasters are "centralized databases." A lot of sites like JobVertise and Wanted Jobs allow smaller job sites to provide a search mechanism into their databases. What this means is that you could hit 20 sites and perform a job search, when in fact, 12 of them are using the same source database! --- Using a Tool --- I use two great tools for searching and managing information on the Web ... especially for job searches. One is a search tool called Copernic (http://www.copernic.com) and the other is an organizational tool called Correlate (http://www.correlate.com). Copernic is a meta-search engine application that runs on your local computer. It allows you to select a category and perform a search on numerous search engines simultaneously. The results are placed in an ordered list of items so that you can select which site to access with a simple double-click. For job searching, this tool is invaluable! When you search in the "Job" category, duplicate job postings are grouped together in the results list eliminating the need to manually filter the results. As for Correlate, it allows you to organize information in a tree structure. You can group items by category and add links to perform organized searches. I use this tool for articles, books, promotions, and job searches on a regular basis. When you find a job that interests you in Copernic, you can drag-n-drop that posting into Correlate! --- The Presentation --- Once you locate a matching job opportunity, send them a cover letter and your resume. The cover letter should identify the job you're e-mailing about as well as your qualifications to perform the job. Also, provide contact information so they can reach you for an interview. Using Correlate, or some other utility, keep track of the jobs you apply for and which ones reply. This way you don't apply for the same job a hundred times and you know with whom you are speaking when they contact you. --- What's next? --- Once you find your dream job and the employer responds, don't panic! Converse with them, whether it be over the phone or via e-mail, and negotiate for your position. If you land your first interview, you should be proud. It usually takes a few tries to get it right. Don't feel disappointed if it takes some time to get it right! One thing to be aware of is that, if a recruiter contacts you, it's probably not a telecommuting position. Most recruiters only work with in-house hires and will usually not contact you again once you claim that you're a telecommuter. Once you do land a job, now comes the hard part ... staying disciplined! That's a different story, but one that's very easy to master. Good luck!
Article Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.net Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.net/internet-and-computers.php/27193 LD
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