Where to Start your Job Search

Where to Start?

You’re job searching and your first question is, “Now what?”

That’s a very good question. As with most things, it’s always best to start at the beginning. Let’s begin our job search at the beginning.

Starting at the Beginning

As you search for jobs let everyone you know, know that you are looking for a job. Tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, your pharmacist, and if you go to church even your church friends. Networking like this will help you in the end because there is the potential that they may know of someone who is hiring for a position, or they may actually have a business that they are hiring for.

Make sure that you start carrying around your resume everywhere you go. Carry the resume in a nice portfolio with the resume unfolded. This will give you the chance to give everyone you speak with a copy to give to his or her friend who may be hiring. This also gives you a leg up in the hiring process because you have a verbal reference from someone he or she knows.

The Middle – Where all the Good Things Are

It’s time to work on the second step in a job search, the actual searching. Now is when you purchase the Sunday and Wednesday papers (or whichever day your paper runs the job postings) and search there for jobs that might match what you are looking for. You circle all the ones that are a match and you start working.

You will then need to make a list of all the job ads that you have answered and the date that you have answered them. You will want to make a column for checking up on the resume and also the status.

Another step is to do job searches via a database on the Internet. You can use job search engines, which are located on the Internet for free to search for jobs that may interest you. You will want to add those in which you send resumes to, to your database as well.

The End – Which is Last, But Not Least

Though this is the last part of the job search phase, you should NEVER stop doing steps one and two of the job search plan. This would be the cold call phase. First step in the cold call phase would be to make a long list of all the employers you would like to work for. The longer the list of companies, the better your chance of finding a job in one of those businesses.

Next you will want to call each company and find out the names of all the hiring managers for the departments that you want to work for. This will help in getting your letter in the door. Normally a letter entitled: To Whom It May Concern doesn’t make it too far. So make sure you can get that name and use it with your list.

You will then want to prepare a cover letter and unique resume to fit the job that you would like to have within that company. Make sure that you do not use the same resume and cover letter for each job. Each company is unique and so should each cover letter and resume. Make sure that your talents match what you feel they would need in their company. Though this is a little harder when you do not have an ad in front of you, do your very best.

After you have sent your resume, you will want to wait about 7-10 days and contact the person that you addressed your resume and cover letter and sell yourself to them. Let them know why you are interested in working for their company and see if you can get an interview. If they are not hiring, ask them how long they keep resumes on file. Thank them for their time and try again with the next company.

Points to keep In Mind:

Cold call
Make a list of companies you would like to work for
Compile a list of hiring managers
Prepare a unique cover letter and resume
Follow up with employer
Database search
Search newspapers
Create a database of all employers contacted
Carry resume with you in portfolio
Tell EVERYONE you know you are looking for a job