A Detailed Review: Steps to Finding a Job

Although it can be an overwhelming and stressful process. There are a number of things one can do to find a job. The process will be different for everyone because of age, experience (level of expertise), expectations and depending on how we market our skills. More so, some become employed again because of who they know and how well they are able to network.

BE PREPARED:

Prepare your resume, cover letter, letter of recommendation and references. This is the perfect time to get those tools up-to-date. Make sure that you get all the necessary job search tools together.

DECIDE HOW TO BEGIN THE PROCESS:

It's important to know how to begin the job search process. Are you going to do your search online or knock on doors? Some of us do an online search, others apply with job agencies, and some of us use the classifieds, where other's do the foot work and go directly to the company that they are interested in becoming employed with. Decide what is going to be your primary focus. Keep in mind that you can do all of the above, however it is more efficient if your focus on one medium.

GET ORGANIZED:

Once you have begin the job search process, follow up with the companies that you have applied with. Have they received your resume? When are they hosting interviews? More importantly, keep job specific resumes organized.

USE NETWORKING TOOLS:

Using search engines like careerbuilder.com, hotjobs.com, monster.com, beyond.com and other networking sites. These sites allow you to post your resumes and register for daily newsletters, which is very helpful in the job search process. Use the resources available to you.

ATTEND JOB FAIRS:

Find out what's out there. Get out and meet others, network, meet employers and find out what they are looking for in potential employees.

BE PATIENT:

This process can be overwhelming at times and tiresome. Therefore, be patient with yourself. It might be discouraging at times, but keep in mind that all that hard work will pay off. More importantly, the process itself is a skills building process, so focus on the positives and not the negatives.

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Rethinking the Application Process

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Last night I lost a lot of sleep because I was up 'til the wee hours of the morning doing job searches. During of all this, I then realized that I needed a better game plan than the one I have. Then, I started thinking about the things I could do to 'really' improve my chances of finding a job. I am tempted to apply for everything and anything as long as I do have an income, however I know that I should not only apply for a job that I am qualified to do, but also a job that I would be interested in doing. Then I started thinking about what I wanted my next career move to be and funny enough all I could think of was teaching, only because it's the safe thing to do!However, truthfully... I would love to take some writing courses and explore my natural skills as a writer. Nonetheless, I am clear that I need to rethink my career choice.

Something else I realized is that I have had the same resume layout for some time and I know that I need to update it. However, I am not sure how or what changes to make in terms of the layout. Now, I am wondering if that is part of the reason why I was not getting the reply I expected. Now the research begins... What exactly do employers expect in terms of one's resume layout, how many pages and what is most appealing or attractive to a potential employer?

Now I am wondering about what else am I not doing to make myself more employable." I think it's only natural to ask yourself those questions after job hunting for some time and not getting enough replies or interviews. I have a lot of details on my resume and a long history of work experiences, but although I highlight relevant experiences I still include all my 'volunteer experiences.' Do I need to include my volunteer experiences at all or simplify it? I am not sure how important volunteer experiences are to an employer. Additionally, I don't have any references listed on my resume and I have never included any. Now... How important is it to have references when initially applying for the job? There is a lot to consider.

I have almost always researched the company’s history, which I have found to be necessary not only when applying for the job, but especially during the interview itself. Plus it's interesting to find out all those neat facts about the company that you will potentially be working for!

The encouraging thing is that there is also a lot of knowledge and experience to be gained when job hunting, no matter how tough it might be.