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How To Apply For A Job Online

Back in the day, getting your job application noticed used to mean drafting a crisp cover letter and resume on 24-pound, watermarked linen paper. But rising to the top of the pile is a bit different for the Monster and HotJobs generation.

With job applications now more likely to be filled out online, it’s trickier to get attention when you’re filling out a form on a Web site. To stand out from the crowd, you’ll have to get into the mindset of a recruiter and work the online system.

The human resources department of a typical large company may receive hundreds of applications for each job it posts. To sort through them all, companies search keywords and use filtering software. To make sure you aren’t filtered out, adjust your resume to mimic the language in the company’s job listing. If the job description uses the words “accounts payable,” “accounts receivable” and “general ledger,” make sure those phrases are tailored into your resume.
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“The employer’s whole goal is to drill down to the least amount of candidates possible,” says Kathy Sweeney, president of the National Resume Writer’s Association. “It’s not an inclusion factor–it’s an exclusion factor that employers are going after.”

Jenny Sullivan, a Careerbuilder.com spokeswoman, suggests the following phrases: problem-solving and decision-making; performance and productivity improvement; oral and written communications; team-building; leadership; project management; customer retention; Internet; and strategic planning.

Monster Worldwide (nasdaq: MNST - news - people ) also provided Forbes.com with popular search terms used by recruiters within five categories over the past 90 days. Within advertising, recruiters are looking for resumes that include: marketing and advertising experience, public relations, media planner, account executive and sales. Within engineering: civil, mechanical, structural and electrical engineers, as well as AutoCAD and HVAC skills. Within consulting: SAP (nyse: SAP - news - people ), J2EE (Java 2 Express Edition), Essbase, Kronos, Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ), and Peoplesoft. Within accounting: CPAs, staff accountants, accounts payable and tax skills. Within journalism: creative, online, broadcast, interactive and corporate journalism.

If you’re e-mailing or uploading your resume, keep it simple. Online applications often call for candidates to upload their resume to a company’s Web site, and ornate fonts and bullets get lost in translation.

Another tip: If you’re cutting and pasting your resume from a Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Word document to an online form, create it in Rich Text Format or with .txt after the name. (Do that while “saving as.”) That will keep your formatting from being garbled. However, if you’re sending it as an attachment, there’s no need to save it differently.

Other tips: Recruiters receive hundreds of resumes per week, with many named “resume.doc.” Make it easy for them to find you by adding your name to the resume file. Also, if you’re e-mailing your resume, paste it in body of the e-mail in addition to attaching it. If you have technical problems, don’t give up. The job boards all have customer service numbers that you should contact. Call them even if they take you to the actual company’s Web site.

If you’ve posted your resume on a board like Monster.com or Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) Hot Jobs, Sweeney recommends refreshing it every 90 days, since employers tend not to look at resumes posted longer ago than that–they wonder why the candidate hasn’t been able to secure a new job. There’s no need to make drastic changes–just tweak something and re-save it.

Of course, one thing about resumes hasn’t changed: spelling errors. Don’t make any.

If you want that job offer, learn about the company

How much you know about prospective employers plays a crucial role, a new survey confirms. A survey by Accountemps revealed that 47 percent of executives polled said having little or no knowledge of the company is the most common mistake job seekers make during interviews. Accountemps offers the following tips for researching potential employers:

Find information at your fingertips. By visiting the company’s Web site, you can locate a wealth of information, such as the firm’s mission and values, what products and services it provides, recent press releases and more. If it’s a publicly traded company, call the investor relations department to request an annual report.

Research the industry. In addition to learning about the company, research the industry in which it competes to gain a better understanding of the market and specific issues and trends that may affect the organization.

Check your network. Ask your colleagues, friends and others for information about your prospective employer. Your contacts may have worked with the organization and could provide insight that may prove valuable during a job interview.

A recent survey of corporate executives revealed a major irritant: Too few job applicants know enough about the company where they want to work.

Forty-seven percent of executives polled said having little or no knowledge of the company is the most common mistake job seekers make during interviews, according to survey results released by Accountemps, a specialty staffing company.

“Imagine trying to market a product without understanding the needs of your audience,” says Louise Fletcher, president of Blue Sky Resumes in Bronxville, N.Y.
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To land job, first master interview

A great resumé won’t get you a great job. A great resumé will get you an interview. It takes a great interview to land that great job.

This is what Lisa Ferns, a career adviser at the University of Rhode Island Office of Career Services, tells the students she advises and why she tells them to make sure they are prepared for their interviews.

Failure to understand the right way to approach a formal interview with a large corporate employer, she explained, can often keep an otherwise qualified candidate from getting the job he or she deserves.

“An interview is the chance to show you are the right personality fit for a job,” Ferns said. “It gives you a chance to tell them how your skills and abilities match a job description.”

Over the course of a year, Ferns advises hundreds of students not only on how to land interviews for highly selective positions, but also on how to put their best foot forward during the interview process. Here is what she tells them.

Interviews usually consist of an employer trying to answer three general questions about an applicant: Why is the candidate interested in the field? Why is he or she interested in the particular position and organization? What relevant skills and experience does the applicant have that would make that person successful if given the job?

As Ferns tells her advisees, it’s an applicant’s job to answer these questions during an interview, whether the interviewer asks them directly or uses a more indirect approach. Good answers to these questions, she said, can give an employer an understanding not only of why you want to work for him but also why he wants to hire you.

The best way to prepare to answer these questions is to do research about the company. “You should be able to tell an interviewer who the major stakeholders in a company are, know if they have any new, very large accounts or any other recent news developments that concern the company,” Ferns said. “The more informed you are, the better able you should be to answer questions about the company.”

Knowing what’s going on in a company will better prepare you to tell an interviewer why you want to work there, how it will help you advance toward your career goals and how your skills can help the company meet its goals. The best way to learn more about a company is to read up on company news, browse the company Web site and talk to anyone you know involved in the industry.

Ferns tells her advisees that just being well-informed and knowing how your experience fits is not enough. You have to be able to deliver that message clearly. One way to practice for an interview, Ferns said, is to talk in concise blocks about your experience, your skills and why you want to work for the company. By knowing the points you want to make beforehand and having a general framework for how to deliver them, you are more likely to say the right thing when the time comes.

Ten tips to help you find work

Here are 10 ways to find a job. Some will help when you’re just starting, some will help you when you’re stuck, and some will help you many times over.

1. Hire a cold caller. Cold calling to get a job really works — if you’re good at it. Your ability to sell yourself on the phone shows exceptional sales skills, self-confidence, drive, and commitment. But most cold calls are executed poorly. Debra Feldman is a professional cold caller at Job Whiz; you hire her to get you a job, and she can do it. By cold calling CEOs. What’s the catch? She costs thousands of dollars. So consider teaching yourself the skill well enough to talk your way into a job where you could afford Feldman.

2. Use proactive recommendations. Instead of waiting for a hiring manager to ask for references, have your reference call immediately. This works well if you have a heavyweight reference, like a well-known CEO or someone who knows the hiring manager. But it also works well if you have little professional experience.

“The good employers have relationships with professors and they forward students who seem exceptional,” says Joel Spolsky, chief executive of Fog Creek Software. Also tap your coaches. They tend to know students well after meeting daily for practice over the course of a few years. “A coach has extended knowledge of the students’ personalities,” says Tom Carmean, head lacrosse coach at Amherst College, who has given many references to employers.

3. Stay organized with job hunt software. How many times have you put the wrong name on a cover letter? Forgotten where you applied? Forgotten what the job was? You need to be organized right off the bat — maintain an Excel spreadsheet with all your contacts. For a serious job hunter who recognizes that a hunt never ends, you could try JibberJobber, which not only helps you organize your information, but can bug you about the things you should be doing but might not be, such as following up with a phone call.

4. Turn a nonjob into a job. Many companies use temp agencies as recruiting firms. Instead of going through the interview process, companies sift through temp workers until they find one they like. So when you find yourself temping at a company you like, give a star performance. Even if the work doesn’t require much skill, personality matters a lot in this sort of situation, so be fun and charming. And don’t be shy about asking for full-time work. Note that this tactic will work for an internship, as well. Matt Himler, a student at Amherst College, started out looking for an internship, and shifted his focus when he saw an actual job was a possibility. He now gets paid to blog for AOL Money & Finance.

5. Use social networking sites. Some, like LinkedIn, are full of professionals who understand that a good job hunt is not an event but a way of life. Many of these people are good networkers and emphatic about making sure they are in a job they love; definitely the types you should be hanging out with, so sign up and create your own profile. “Ninety percent of jobs posted at LinkedIn are associated with a profile,” says Konstantin Guericke, cofounder of LinkedIn. So you can find a job you want, then find a way to connect with the hiring manager through people you know, and you’ll have a leg up on the competition because — as if you haven’t heard this a thousand times — most people get their job by networking.
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HR gatekeepers keeping the skilled locked out

I spent an afternoon last week with some unemployed job hunters.

They were about a dozen high-level professionals — out of work for longer than you’d think possible for men of their education and experience.

I wanted to meet with them because I’ve been flooded lately with publicity about the “brain drain” expected as the baby boomer generation leaves the work force.

So, I wondered, if employers fear this loss of talent, why are these capable people not being grabbed up in a heartbeat? The room was full of expertise, ripe for the picking.

But most of them had worked in the wrong place at the wrong time. They’d been let go in corporate downsizings or mergers that made their positions redundant.

Unfortunately, they agreed, recruiters treat the unemployed, for whatever reason, as damaged goods.

“If you’re out of work, there’s a prejudice against you,” one said. “Recruiters say the employers are more interested in candidates who are employed.”

Thus, the unemployed professionals — in project management, engineering, sales, purchasing, information technology, marketing, finance, and so on — created their own referral network.

“Here. I know so and so. They’re going to have a position opening up.”

They were generous with contact names and tips. They were upbeat in their accounts of what’s working and what’s not on the job hunt.

But, when prodded, they let the optimistic facade crack. Here’s what they agreed:

Good candidates aren’t getting through corporate front-line resume screening systems.

Or, if their resumes are reaching the eyes of actual hiring managers, they’re getting no feedback as to why they’re not getting interviews.

“We can’t get past the HR gatekeeper,” one said. “If we’re blown off, we don’t know why.”
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Don’t talk yourself out of the job

A column on “Interviewing 101 - The Basics” was a request of a local employer. It seems that he hasn’t been too impressed with the interviewing skills of recent college graduates.

I’ve compiled this 101 list from previous columns and added information. Important things to remember include:

Prepare yourself. Before the big day, do your homework. Research the company to learn as much as you can. You can also research the industry and the specific position. This can be done by using the Internet and by talking with people in the organization.

Use the information to demonstrate your knowledge and interest during the interview. Don’t ever go into an interview and ask the employer, “What does your company do?”

Dress the part. A professional appearance alone will not land you the job, but a slovenly one will certainly hurt your chances. Dress as though you’re ready and enthusiastic to go to work.

Professionals dress professionally. Lose the college backpack. Wear a conservative outfit such as a suit. Go easy on the trendy; avoid displaying anything that may take attention away from your skills and qualifications - tattoos, nose rings, makeup, etc. And don’t forget to wear a smile.

Be polite. Show respect to everyone you meet, whether it’s the boss, the receptionist or a prospective co-worker. Since the first person you meet on an interview is usually a receptionist, consider this as the first impression you’ll make.
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Resume Critique Checklist

Resumes normally get less than a 15-second glance at the first screening. If someone has asked you to review his resume and you want to help him ensure it gets read — or want to know if your own is up to par — be sure you can answer yes to the following questions:

First Impression

* Does the resume look original and not based on a template?

* Is the resume inviting to read, with clear sections and ample white space?

* Does the design look professional rather than like a simple typing job?

* Is a qualifications summary included so the reader immediately knows the applicant’s value proposition?

* Is the length and overall appearance of the resume appropriate given the career level and objective?

Appearance

* Does the resume provide a visually pleasing, polished presentation?

* Is the font appropriate for the career level and industry?

* Are there design elements such as bullets, bolding and lines to guide readers’ eyes through the document and highlight important content?

* Is there a good balance between text and white space?

* Are margins even on all sides?

* Are design elements like spacing and font size used consistently throughout the document?

* If the resume is longer than a page, does the second page contain a heading? Is the page break formatted correctly?

Resume Sections

* Are all resume sections clearly labeled?

* Are sections placed in the best order to highlight the applicant’s strongest credentials?

* Is the work history listed in reverse chronological order (most recent job first)?

Career Goal

* Is the career objective included toward the top of the resume in a headline, objective or qualifications summary?

* Is the resume targeted to a specific career goal and not trying to be a one-size-fits-all document?

* If this is a resume for career change, is the current objective clearly stated, along with supporting details showing how past experience is relevant to the new goal?

Accomplishments

* Does the resume include a solid listing of career accomplishments?

* Are accomplishments quantified by using numbers, percentages, dollar amounts or other concrete measures of success?

* Do accomplishment statements begin with strong, varied action verbs?

* Are accomplishments separated from responsibilities?

Relevance

* Is the information relevant to hiring managers’ needs?

* Does the resume’s content support the career goal?

* Is the resume keyword-rich, packed with appropriate buzzwords and industry acronyms?

* Is applicable additional information, such as awards and affiliations, included, while personal information like marital status, age and nationality unrelated to the job target omitted?

Writing Style

* Is the resume written in an implied first-person voice with personal pronouns, such as I, me and my, avoided?

* Is the content flow logical and easy to understand?

* Is the resume as perfect as possible, with no careless typos or spelling, grammar or syntax errors?

10 tips on finding a job

Times are hard, retrenchments are rife and companies are not queueing up to employ recently qualified matriculants, or graduates, for that matter.

So what do you do if you suddenly find your accounts piling up and there is no job to go to? All is not lost – there is much that you can do.

Let everyone know. Put the word out that you are looking for a job – tell all your friends, your parents’ friends, teachers, people at the church and the sports club. Tell people you’re prepared to do anything – many an unromantic part-time job that was well done, has led to greater things.

Be on the lookout. Lying in front of the TV moping is not going to get you anywhere – what are you waiting for? The perfect job to come knocking on your door? Check the newspapers regularly, scout the noticeboards at the community centre, listen to the radio. In short, be alert for any opportunity.

Lower your expectations. Many newly graduated people especially have grand ideas of what they would like to do and what they won’t do. Fact is, the market is saturated and employers can pick and choose between myriads of applicants with decades of experience. Be prepared to do anything – if you work well, it will provide you with an entry point into a field of work and you can then work your way up. But you need to get in first. Also be modest in your salary expectations – unrealistic demands could lose you an opportunity.

Choose a field. If you want to work in retail management, take any job you can find in that particular environment, and work your way up. If it means starting on the shop floor as a sales assistant, see it as experience you’re notching up. Don’t get stuck in a dead end job in a field in which you have no interest. Dead end jobs are fine for a while if you need the money to pay the rent, but don’t get stuck there.

Offer your services for free. This one has been known to work over and over again. Choose a company you would really like to work for, make an appointment and offer to work for them free of charge for three months. Make yourself indispensable and be a willing workhorse – if anything comes up, chances are you will be first and foremost in their minds as a possible candidate.

Update your CV. Make sure your CV is up to date – if a job possibility suddenly appears out of the blue, you want to be able to produce a CV within half an hour. Waiting two days, while you put together a CV, might just cost you a job.

Get marketable skills. If your skills are not very marketable – after all, how many job opportunities are there for graduates in anthropology or sociology? – equip yourself with marketable skills. Do a desk top publishing course, become computer literate, do a secretarial course – do whatever it takes.

Start your own business. Rather than wait around for a job to appear, create your own. Figure out what is needed in your community – this could be from car washing to babysitting to teaching extra lessons – and do something about it. This need not cost you a fortune to set up – your biggest expense will probably be a cellphone and a pay-as-you go contract.

Do all work as well as you can. Whatever you are given to do, whether it is selling samoosas at the bazaar or looking after kids during church services, do it as well as you can. If you are enthusiastic and make an effort, someone is sure to notice sooner or later.

Be friendly, willing and presentable. If you get an interview, take out the tongue ring – keep in mind who is the one with most to lose here. The interviewer owes you nothing. Don’t be a Moaning Minnie – no one wants to work with someone who complains about everything. To get the job, you often have to look the part – accept it.

Out of a job, running out of options

The sign that used to greet workers at the aluminum plants that employed hundreds near this southeast Ohio village reads, “Looking forward to a new beginning.”

William Covert, who put in 27 years at the Ormet plant, has the same sentiment, although his new beginning probably will happen elsewhere.

Covert went out on strike along with 1,200 other Ormet workers nearly two years ago. The strike was settled in July, but Ormet sold the plant in Hannibal where Covert worked, and a reduction plant, where ore is turned into aluminum, remains shuttered.

So Covert began looking for a job at other factories that dot the Ohio River in the southeast corner of state’s rust belt. He is among about 200,000 Ohio manufacturing workers who have lost their jobs since 2000.

Manufacturing layoffs, low-paying service jobs and the exodus of Ohio’s brightest young people to other states have contributed to the state’s economic slumber that is a key issue in the campaign for governor.

“I sent out 40 resumes. Never heard from none of them. Nobody wants to hire a 51-year-old man,” Covert said over coffee at the local McDonald’s where he sat with his wife of 28 years, Debbie.

Instead, Covert has been traveling 120 miles each Monday to Columbus to learn a new trade - driving a tractor-trailer and operating heavy equipment such as bulldozers. The state pays his weekly $135 tuition. He stays with a son who has moved to Columbus.

Once his three-month course ends, the Coverts probably will leave Monroe County. Most of the coal mines that offered lifetime employment have long been sealed, and Ormet had provided the jobs since the 1950s.

As the Nov. 7 election nears, Covert is supporting Democrat Ted Strickland over Republican Ken Blackwell, believing that Strickland has a better grasp of the concerns of people needing a job. The Democrat has represented Monroe County in Congress since his district was redrawn in 2002 and grew up in the western edge of the Appalachian hills that define his territory.

“He came from the same that I did - the farm, the dirt,” Covert said.

The Ormet job paid $16 an hour. The Coverts earned $24,000 last year from his retirement and investments and Debbie Covert’s job at a fast-food restaurant. Covert has two rental properties, but only one is occupied.
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Online Job Seeking Scam

If you have a resume posted online, you could become the target of a scam. Job seekers are turning to the internet, posting their resumes and applying for jobs online. Allie Vaandering says she’s used these websites once , but is cautious.

Allie Vaandering, MSU student: “I’d like to know what would be the limit to put on the internet and how confidential it would be.”

Now the FBI is reporting scammers could steal the information you post on your online resume. Scammers are calling phone numbers listed on resumes, asking for personal information, like Social Security numbers.

Brenda Ely, Michigan Dept. of Labor & Economic Growth: “A job seeker could ask what purpose they plan for that particular information at this point in the process.”

Brenda Ely of the Michigan Department of Labor says never give up sensitive information before meeting with an employer in person.

Brenda Ely: “Legitimate employers know what the rules are. They’re not going to compromise their company’s integrity and the reputation of their company by asking for information at an improper time.”

Ely says if you think you’re talking to a scammer instead of a future boss, hang up the phone. If you’re planning to post your resume online, check out the website’s privacy and security settings first. That way you know who has access to your information.