Online Job Hunting (Just ASK!)
Applying for jobs online is combining the “Searching” and “Knocking” aspects of the Just ASK! methodology. It is like trying to get into a secured building by going in the front door. It is the formal approach and the people you will deal with initially are the people in Human Resources. Their job is to screen all incoming résumés to identify candidates to begin their interview process.
The tools you will need to engage in the traditional job search are:
- Résumé(s)
- Cover Letter(s)
- Proper attire for job fairs
Strategies
There are two basic strategies available when applying for jobs online:
- Apply for as many jobs as you possibly can. Use one version of your résumé that never changes and with no cover letter. The idea is to think of applying for jobs as a numbers game – If you apply for enough jobs then you are bound to get some interviews. It’s like the old shotgun approach to marketing – throw enough stuff at the wall and something is bound to stick…sometimes. Or you can…
- Apply only for those jobs that you are really qualified for and seriously interested in. Then tweak your résumé and write a good cover letter for each position you apply for. Be selective. It’s like the old rifle approach to marketing.
Which approach works the best? If the desired outcome of applying for jobs online is to generate interview opportunities, experience has shown that the rifle approach will yield more interviews for job candidates than the shotgun approach. The good news (for you) is that most of your competition takes a shotgun approach to online job hunting.
How to select and manage job boards?
Peter Weddle reports that there is an excess of 40,000 job boards on the Internet. If you are going to devote, at most, 1/3 of your time budgeted for job hunting to applying for jobs online, how can you do this so that it allows you to cover the most relevant sites?
A good strategy is to monitor the major boards and then select a few niche or specialty job boards to watch. The easiest way to do this is to create a free account on each job board and then set up saved searches or agents. The job boards will then run new searches for you based on the search criteria you define and email you new job postings (…every day if you’d like).