Tip Tuesday

101 Job Tips To Land Your Dream Job (Part 1 of 5)

Are you looking for a better job? A better Career? Recently laid off? No matter what the reason for your job search there are plenty of traditional—and not so traditional ways to find a new job. Here is part one (five part series) of 101 of the hottest job tips in town. There will be 20 new tips released every Tuesday for the next 5 weeks. Take time each Tuesday and read the twenty tips given. No matter how common they sound, a little tweaking always goes a long way.

1. Proofread your resume: Have some trusted friends read over your resume and give you some feedback. Someone else may pick up mistakes you missed—and an error on your resume can prevent you from getting that important first interview.

2. Make a list of your skills: Make a list at the things you are good at and the things you enjoy doing. Chances are there is some crossover between the lists. Use these lists to help identify the types of jobs and industries you are most interested and suited to working for.

3. Buy quality paper and envelopes: Invest in good quality, heavy weight resume paper—and don’t skimp on the envelopes! Spend a little extra to make your resume stand out from the crowd.

4. Send your resume via priority mail: Or use Fed Ex or UPS. Those brightly colored envelopes just scream “I am important! Open me first!”. You can send your resume in a flat rate priority mailer for about $4.00, a small price to pay for guaranteed attention.

5. Don’t try too hard to stand out: Having an attention getting resume and application is great—having a sparkly, over the top one is not. Hot pink stationery with bunnies on it will attract attention, but it won’t land you an executive position.

6. Put a P.S. on your cover letter: Our marketing friends must be onto something—just about every good sales letter ends with a P.S. If any part of your letter gets read, it will be the postscript at the end.

7. Include a resume with every application: Even if a position requires you to fill out an application, attach your resume as well—it gives you a chance to stand out from the crowd and present yourself in the best light possible.

8. Consider a video resume if you are in a technical field: A powerpoint presentation or short video of your skills sounds over the top—and for some jobs, it is. For others, a video resume may be just what you need to get your foot in the door.

9. Customize your resume: Once you find a job you are interested in, take the time to customize your resume to better match the job description. If you are applying for a managerial description, for example, make sure your resume reflects all of the management duties you have performed, and highlights your achievements in that area.

10. Search for a job using unconventional spellings and terms: If you are an engineer, search for “Engineer”, but also check out “Engeneer” and “Engineering”—either a misspelling or different phrasing can pop up different listings (not all employers can spell well!).

11. Be willing to drive a bit: If you currently work five minutes from home, consider expanding your search to the next town, or the closest large city. Driving a little further each day may be a good trade off for a higher paying position.

12. Focus your search: If you are looking for a job in a large field, try focusing your search a bit to eliminate results you can’t use. If you search “Sales” you will pull up plenty of jobs that won’t suit your needs if what you really looking for is “Pharmaceutical Sales”…and the jobs you do want may get buried in the massive amount of listings.

13. Use the newspaper: Use the classified listings in your local paper and search online for other papers you may not receive. Most have an online classified section you can refer to, complete with a help wanted section.

14. Brainstorm to find other jobs you can do: If you are a teacher, apply for teaching jobs, but don’t overlook coaching, tutoring, and administrative jobs in the education system either.

15. Consider all of your skills: If you are great at selling cars, you may also be great at selling office equipment, medications, or business services. Don’t limit yourself to the field you are currently in if you have skills that can be applied elsewhere.

16. Use a Search Consultant: Job search firms aren’t just for top level executives anymore. Talented people of all levels are in demand, so register with a job service. Just make sure the prospective employer is footing the bill.

17. Don’t fall for scams: There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there waiting to take advantage of the unwary. Make sure you don’t fall for any of the common scams—everything from “work at home” to “pay for a list of available jobs”. You shouldn’t have to pay to find a job, or a legitimate lead.

18. Write some articles about your field: If you can, do some writing for a trade journal or other organization. If you don’t know of any, write about your field for an online article site like ezinearticles.com. Doing so will help build your reputation, give you published credits to refer to on your resume and help to establish you as an expert in your field.

19. Send your resume to a person: Instead of addressing your cover letter to a company, or worse to “whom it may concern”, take the time to find the name of the person actually doing the hiring, and send your resume to that person directly.

20. Make sure your online profiles are accurate: Check networking sites like LinkedIn to be sure that the information there is accurate and up to date. Don’t have a networking profile yet? Take the time to make one. Web–savvy employers will check you out via Google and other outlets!

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