Ins and outs of job hunting - Employment - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 2002

Searching for work in today's competitive market requires considerably more effort than in recent years, notes Tracey Turner, executive director of The Creative Group, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing firm placing creative, advertising, marketing, and Web professionals. According to Turner, methods that may have worked in a robust economy should be replaced with more-focused, aggressive strategies. "As competition for employment intensifies, job seekers are branching out beyond obvious tools such as job-board postings and classified ads. They're networking harder and smarter, and using their resumes to paint vivid pictures of the value they can add to companies.

"The most successful applicants thoroughly research prospective employers before initiating contact. They approach job interviews with a `sales pitch' on how their skills and expertise can directly benefit the company." The following are tactics that Turner says are "in" and "out" when it comes to landing a new position:

                In                                  Out

* Working a room                     * Working the want ads
* Freelancing, volunteering, or      * Free time while job hunting
  continuing your education while
  job hunting
* E-mailing resumes tailored to      * Mass mailing generic resumes
  specific companies and positions
* Using creative job-search          * Listing creative job titles
  strategies to identify leads         (e.g., "innovation guru") on
                                       resumes
* Highlighting and quantifying       * Providing a laundry list of
  specific achievements on resumes     previous job duties on resumes
* Calling potential employers        * Waiting by the phone
* Using clear, simple, and           * Using business buzzwords and
  persuasive language in               jargon in application materials
  application materials
* Preparing references for phone     * Including references with
  calls                                resumes
* Personalized cover letters that    * Cover letters addressed "To Whom
  complement information on the        It May Concern"
  resume and "sell" your skills
* Asking everyone you know if they   * Telling people you're "between
  have job leads                       jobs"
* Ending the interview by asking     * Ending the interview by asking
  for the job                          when they'll be contacting you