5 Job Search Tactics You Cant Afford to Skip

5 Job Search Tactics You Cant Afford to Skip5 Job Search Tactics You Cant Afford to Skip4Job searching has taken on a new dimension since the changes in the economy. With more job seekers than open jobs, there are a several job search tactics you cant afford to skip. By overlooking details in your job search, you may be costing yourself a job.A great way to get your foot in the door is by getting on the recruiters radar. With many jobs not being publicly advertised, getting yourself noticed by the hiring party is important. By not skipping important steps in your job search, you can increase your chances of finding hidden openings and landing an interview.Job Search Tactics Not to SkipBe Searchable on GoogleIt sounds clich to keyword search yourself on Google. However, if you cant find yourself on Google, how will the recruiters? Make your LinkedIn page, Google+, About.me, and other social media accounts searchable on the web to increase your chances of being found.Be a Match for the JobSending your resume to every open job is bad advice. Before you apply to any job, make sure your qualifications, experiences, and skills match the requirements stated in the posting. If you arent a match, move on and use the time to find other opportunities that offer more potential for landing the job.Dont Wait, Be QuickJob postings arent open forever. Depending on the job, the company, and the type of candidates being targeted, a job is generally open from a few weeks to a month. If you find a job opening that you are qualified for, dont wait to apply until tomorrow. The sooner you get your application in, the better especially as some companies close the posting after obtaining a certain amount of resumes.Use Your NetworkBuild your network and continue to grow your network throughout your career. A job search is not always planned, so being prepared is half the battle. Additionally, many open jobs are not advertised, but spread through word-of-mouth and employee referral prog rams. Through your network, you can find these hidden gems.Get on LinkedInRecruiters and HR professionals are using social media, most notably LinkedIn, to find and research candidates. If you dont have a profile, you may be hurting your job search. Create a profile, keep it up to date, and harness the power of social media in your job search.Knowing how to effectively job search is important in finding and landing a job. By being searchable for HR professional and recruiters, job seekers can greatly increase their job search success. Remember, the small details matter to those looking to fill jobs.Readers, what job search tactics do you use to make job searching more successful? Share with us in the comment section below

When Companies Merge, Do Resumes Fall Through the Cracks

When Companies Merge, Do Resumes Fall Through the CracksWhen Companies Merge, Do Resumes Fall Through the CracksIn an era of consolidation, hiring software collates every applicants resume. Just make sure you stay at the top of the pile.What happens to your resume when you apply to a company that then goes through a merger or acquisition?Lets say you applied for a job at Merrill Lynch in early September 2008. By mid-September, Bank of America welches in advanced talks to buy Merrill Lynch. Would your resume be transported to Bank of Americas ATS (applicant tracking system) software once the sale was final?Do companies in such circumstances merge their ATS databases, or do both parties retain autonomous systems? Should you reapply to Bank of America, and if so, when? And how?To unravel the mystery of what happens to your resume under these circumstances, Ladders spoke with Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass, in Boston, which produces resume-processing and data-extraction technologies used by HR departments and recruiters to sort candidates. (To understand how ATS technology screens and sorts candidates, please read Resume, Meet Technology Making Your Resume Format Machine-Friendly.)Sigelman and Burning Glass have helped a number of client companies combine ATS software in the wake of a merger or acquisition.An unwieldy systemThere are better options for merging data systems than was once the case, Sigelman said. As recently as a few years ago, monolithic ERP (enterprise resourcing planning) systems held a companys data store, including any resumes it had acquired.In the days when ERP was king, the consensus would have been that two merging companies would have to be on one shared system, with all data in one place. Thats where ERP systems wound up becoming so popular this theory that you want all data in one place, Sigelman said.The result was typically a well-ordered system in which all parties operated under the same processes and procedures. The tradeoff was unwieldy data storage infrastructure that was difficult to maintain and had trouble transferring resumes and other data between the various parts.I think a lot of companies wound up trading order for efficiency, Sigelman said. You invest $20 million in an ERP implementation, and you get a whole lot of heartache at the end of the day.Separate but equal dataWhat changed the game? The advent of XML (Extensible Markup Language), a data-markup language that aids information systems in sharing structured data. Today, XML attaches software code to documents and files to make the transfer of data easier.Instead of two systems merging into one with the same processes and procedures, companies undergoing mergers can now opt for the most efficient method to maintain separate ATS software and still share resumes in a common applicant pool.Candidates can be considered for positions in various company units without the need to combine ATS software and without the need to standardize data coming from disparate ATS databases.Will my resume be lost in the shuffle?Your resume is safe, Sigelman said. From what hes seen, most companies are careful with their data stores.The state of the art is to make use of such data, to recognize that such data represents a real asset to a company, whether its current job applicants or the resumes a company has received in the past, he said.In short, job seekers likely neednt worry about reapplying to an acquirer when going after a job at the acquiring company.In the end, it doesnt hurt to send your resume again, Sigelman said.The ATS will alert the recruiter to the existence of prior versions. Just be careful they dont contradict each other.

How to Email Your Cover Letter the Right Way

How to Email Your Cover Letter the Right WayHow to Email Your Cover LetterHow to Email Your Cover Letter the Right WayI always say the best post topics come straight from real job seekers (like you). And this week, my idea came from a former co-worker who recently went through the whole job search process. She had two questions Whats the best subject line for an emaille in response to a job ad? and Should you attach the titel letter to the email, or copy and paste it into the body of the email? I always wondered this myself, so I did some research and heres the consensusBest Email Subject LineJane Johnson resume for sales service positionIts straightforward and informative. It tells the recipient who you are, what youre sending, and why youre sending it.This isnt a concrete formula, however. Since some job ads require you mention a job posting ID number when you apply, you should substitute the name of the position with the number. Example Jane Johnson resume for Job 5527.Best Way to Include Your Cover LetterCopy and paste your cover letter into the body of the email.Why is this the preferred method? Three reasons 1) It gives the recipient one less attachment to open, 2) It gets to the point faster than writing the awkward here is my resume and cover letter mumbo jumbo, and 3) It gives you the ability to make an impact as soon as the recipient opens your email. However, if you send your cover letter out usings cover letter builder, the application will paste a copy of your letter in the email and add one as an attachment. This way, employers can see your value up front and have the option to save the attachment too.Need to build a cover letter?Pongos Cover Letter Builder provides over a dozen cover letter templates with fill-in-the-blank sample text, best practice advice, and samplephrases to help you get started. You can even email your cover letter directly from your account.Build your cover letter todayIn this case, some of the typical cover letter rules wou ld not apply. While a regular cover letter would include To and From addresses, email requires a different format. Skip the To and From but include the date, reference line, greeting, body, professional closing, and signature. Heres an example of what an email cover letter would look likeBe sure to attach your resume to your email. And as always, refer to the companys job posting and apply, using whatever guidelines they specify. Adhering to the employers guidelines will not only ensure your documents get to the right place at the right time, it will prove that you pay attention to details and follow instructions