When searching for a job online, the task can be daunting if not down right depressing. Being up against who knows how may people for the same job, and then after applying, the case is that usually your application is lost in cyber space with never a response or even a thank you for applying automated email!
There is hope and ways for you to stand out when applying online! It’s all about the terms you use when setting up searches or creating your headline.
According to Jay Martin, Chairman of JobSerf a job search engine that searches and applies to positions on your behalf, there are three search word guidelines to follow when using online job Websites.
Rule number one, “searching for a job online is a numbers game,” Martin says. “Volume and quality get results. Force yourself to pick search words that will return broader results to ensure that you retrieve more jobs than you might normally have.”
Number two “avoid the desire to obsess on conducting the most precise search, Martin continues, “there are two kinds of errors you can make – apply to the wrong job””which usually results in being ignored and put in a database””or not applying to the right job””usually from not having enough time to find all of the appropriate jobs.”
The third rule to follow, he says, is to “refine search words or create strings that will hopefully reduce the number of times you see the same job on a job board.” No one wants to see the same posting on a job search list over and over again.
Martin saysto yield best results Level focus your search words. “The four levels of management (Manager, Director, Vice President and C-level) will provide the quickest and most comprehensive results (if you are manager level or above),” he says.
“Try using “Manager OR Director” (if you are mid-level management) or “Chief OR CMO OR SVP” to optimize your search. This structure allows for the most efficient gathering of jobs in a single search per board, and will include the other variations such as ‘Director of Function’, ‘Function Director’ and ‘Director, Function’,” Martin suggests.
Save your searches! If you do this, he says, it saves time for when you want to try a new job search site by not having to create a new string of search words. Even if the site is small, “smaller sites have fewer jobs, but they are the ‘road’ less traveled, so you will also face far less competition of the jobs on them,” Martin says.
Martin adds that the benefits of an efficient job search is that it:
* Minimizes the number of times you see the same job. (repeats)
* Spends less time combing through the irrelevant search results. (fodder)
* Increases your chances of seeing the jobs that actually interest you. (“right” jobs)
* Identifies job titles or sub-functions that you may not have thought about before.
The bottom line, he says, is that you will be able to concentrate on the more relevant job opportunities.
Saving time, energy and maybe even a little bit of money when focusing and consolidating on your job search can lead to you finding the perfect job or at least close to it.
“It is good to cover all your bases when searching for a job in this economy, and online job searching should be only one of the avenues you use in returning to employment, Martin says.”
“Personally, I have gotten three different six-figure positions at top companies in the last 10 years from the Internet, but I realize this may be the exception. Online job searching is a numbers game, and though seemingly futile at times, it is also great for identifying leads at companies to then network into, and chase down.”
By Jessica Kostek
May 21, 2009
source: tmcnet.com