While doing some reading, I came across this blog post, where the author doles out some pretty useful advice about the often dreaded job hunt. Some highlights:
- Make sure your resume is up-to-date well before you start your job search. Have someone, preferably with an objective eye (or even better, a mentor or supervisor!) look it over for you and edit accordingly
- Keep your resume on hand in both .DOC and .PDF formats
- Confirm your references and send them a small description of the job(s) you have applied for, along with a link to the posting, so that they may be able to speak more intelligently about your qualification for the role
- Consider building a digital portfolio/resume
I feel the most useful piece of advice, however, is the suggestion that you create a spreadsheet to keep track of all the jobs you have applied for. As Lisa suggests:
"This will make it easier to see where you’ve applied, where you need to apply and when to do (if any) follow-ups. I have eight columns on mine in the following order: Company/Library, Position, Salary, Web Address, End Date, Resume Submit Date, Type, Status, Followup. Explanation of some of the ones I am using: Salary is to keep track of who is paying what (when mentioned), also helps me gauge what the market is currently paying out for certain types of jobs. Lots of positions are accepted via corporate HR sites and are assigned a position number – this include this as well in the Position field. Resume Type: Did I apply online, email it, fax it or what?"
Even better: she provides a template (second bullet point) so you can begin your very own job tracker spreadsheet!
Good luck and happy job hunting!
-ZC
