Get Organized: How to Manage an Online Job Search

[Badshah Mamun]

Get Organized: How to Manage an Online Job Search

Job searches are much harder for inexperienced candidates, such as recent university graduates, than experienced people. While good jobs do exist for entry-level people, the problem is that without any prior experience, it's difficult to differentiate yourself as a particular kind of candidate. On the one hand, that's good, because you can apply to many more different kinds of jobs, and thus more jobs in general. On the other hand, it makes job hunting a huge endeavor, because you'll need to produce a flood of content for all these different purposes?specially tailored resumes, cover letters, and application materials that become difficult to reuse.

Get OrganizedWhile it's beyond the scope of this article, personal and professional networking are two extremely valuable ways to find jobs. Be sure to talk to friends, family, and acquaintances of all kinds about your career aspirations, in addition to conducting an online job search.

This article will give you some tips for managing your online job search.

Where to Look for Jobs

Before you can apply to jobs, you have to know where to find them. The big name job websites, like CareerBuilder and Monster.com, will only get you so far. Which sites you use will largely depend on the industry, as well as the city or country in which you hope to work.

If you don't know which job websites your industry or cities prefers, ask. Ask professors, former internship colleagues, and friends. Ask everyone you can. Once you collect a number of job websites, investigate them. Look for jobs that would suit you. Eventually, you'll narrow down your list of sites to five or six of the most valuable ones to you. Save these into a list (more on what kind of list in a moment).

But wait?there's more! You also need to add websites of specific companies or organizations. Some you'll add because they don't do much outreach (the government is a good example) and others you'll add because they represent your dream employer. If you can name a few companies where you would love to work, then you should keep an eye on the jobs they have to offer?not just the jobs that they might post to industry-specific sites. Cast your net wide, especially if you're an inexperienced job seeker.

Social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn could easily make it to your list, too, depending on your field and location.

When you have a good list of maybe a dozen or so places to look for jobs, make an official list. Bookmark them in a bookmark folder in your Web browser, and call it Job Websites. Or, if you'd rather, keep the list in some other file type that works for you, like a spreadsheet or text note. The advantage of a spreadsheet is you can add so much more information to it, like the jobs you've already applied to via that site, and whether the contact was successful.

Add general job websites to your list, too, like CareerBuilder, Indeed, and Monster.com, but classify them as such.  Create a subfolder, secondary sheet, or tag so they don't get jumbled in with the more specific industries websites and direct employer sites, which will likely have more value.

Whatever you choose, do save the list. You'll want to return to it after several weeks or months to be sure you haven't forgotten about or ignored some of the places where great job opportunities could be hiding.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404546,00.asp