Career Tip of the Week

When applying online you will often see the same questions repeated in job applications.  Save yourself some time by keeping those answers to copy and paste into other applications.  You can save them in Microsoft Word or another convenient program of your choice.  Many online applications can take an hour or more to complete, so any time you save benefits your schedule.  To your job search success!

Cover Letter Tip

Most cover letter introductions seem to start with “To Whom It May Concern,”  “Dear Hiring Manager,” or “Dear HR.”  There are better ways to introduce your letter and avoid boring the reader or worse yet, insulting them with the wrong title.  First, try to find the name of a person in the advertisement.  With a name you have an immediate personal connection and it shows you truly read the job announcement.   If you cannot locate a name, you can use “Dear Ladies and Gentlemen” or “Greetings,” and although these are general, they rarely offend anyone.  There are times when the ad identifies an area of the company, like the HR Department, but there will often be a name associated with that department in the ad itself.  Read your job announcements carefully, not only for information to tailor a resume or cover letter, but to provide a specific name or department when available and show your attention to detail.  To your job search success!

Job Search Quotes of the Week!

Yes, I decided to do two again this week - a lot of great quotes to share!

"Begin while others are procrastinating.  Work while others are wishing."  William Arthur Ward

"Luck is quite predictable.  If you want more luck, take more chances."  Brain Tracy

To your job search success!

Keeping Track of Your Job Search

Have you ever experienced that awkward moment of getting a call from a potential employer, and you didn't remember applying to the company?  This is actually a very commonplace issue.  Up to 60% of companies either start interviewing or finally fill their job requisition three months of more after first posting it online.  Why you say?  It's a simple matter of money and/or time.  First, if a company waits longer to fill a position, they save thousands of dollars for those months the requisition remains open.  Second, if they are inundated with work already, it often takes that long to do resume review, phone interviews, in person interviews, second interviews, make a decision, send the offer letter, and get the new employee on board.

As a jobseeker, you need a simple way of tracking your applications, and I recommend keeping a Job Search Notebook.  Any three ring binder you have around your house with sufficient room for lots of papers will do!  With this handy little tool you can keep track of the following:

--Each company/organization you applied to and a copy of their job advertisement.

--The tailored/personalized resume and cover letter you used to apply - please take this version to the interview, not a generic version (or worse yet, one with another company's information). 

--Date of application OR date of handoff/email of resume to a networking contact or recruiter for forwarding to HR or another company contact.

--Date of application confirmation.

--Company research (never apply to a company you haven't researched, this way you can give a complete answer to the question:  "tell us what you know about our organization?")

--Communications from the company (still in consideration, rejection email/letter, additional questions).

--Date of phone interview.

--Notes from the phone interview.

--Date of in-person interview.

--Notes from the in-person interview.

--Thank you note written to the interviewers.

--Follow up information.

--Contact information, including names, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Now, when you get that call two, three, or even four months after applying, there is ample documentation for you to refer to, and refresh your memory for, a good phone or in-person interview.   Try the Job Search Notebook idea, as it will keep you organized, and avoid the embarrassment that comes with not remembering where you applied.  To your job search success!