What Are Your Strategies ?

What is your first step when looking for work? I’ll bet your first stop is an online job board, such as CareerBuilder, HotJobs or Monster. You might want to rethink that strategy. When companies down-size, one of the first things to shrink is the advertising budget. Many employers are now using just their company website to advertise openings. To draw more applicants to their sites, companies such as software makers Intuit Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. are revamping their online career pages, including making them more interactive by adding videos and employee profiles. Companies also are trying to reach job seekers through social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Sodexo Inc., which provides food services to institutions, offers online “widgets” at its Web site, which send alerts to job hunters’ computer screens when the company has new openings. As a bonus to scaling back advertising on online job boards, companies also reduce the number of applications they need to sort through. Since most applicants visiting a company website are interested in that particular employer, they are on average better qualified, than applicants coming through job boards. If you are a regular reader of Executive And Life Coaching, you know you need to tailor your cover letter and résumé to the specific needs of the company and the particular job you are applying for. By visiting the company website, you can do the needed research while you are there seeing if they have any openings. Networking Online Many successful job seekers are finding luck by first networking with employees at the company via social media like LinkedIn and applying directly with the company instead of through the job boards. Update your profiles on LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc. Ensure your personal stuff is indeed marked private. You don’t want an employer, or an employee you are networking with, to see the midnight to dawn revelry of last weekend. Or, just as important, your personal views on controversial issues. A safe rule of thumb is, if you wouldn’t want to talk about it during a job interview (or want your mother to see it), don’t post it or take it down from your public pages. Helpful research sites Here are some places to check out companies and industries. For basic research, http://hoovers.com/free/, offers a good starting place. It has information like company overviews and the names of major competitors. Another site, http://www.google.com/Top/Business/, has a large directory of businesses organized by industry. Despite the recession, many companies continue to hire new employees, if for no other reason, to replace departing staff. People still quit jobs, get promoted or demoted, and retire. THERE ARE JOBS OUT THERE. New Approaches As companies increasingly seek new hires through their own Web sites, consider new strategies. Don’t give up on job boards. Just realize their limitations. Use every tool in your toolbox.

• Make a list of companies that meet your requirements for a desirable employer
• Research the companies to understand their business
• Broaden job searches by using multiple tools
• Make use of social-media sites to network with existing employees.
• Apply directly to a company’s Web site, not through an online job board.

This is a great time to contact me to get an action plan together to get your Dream Job. I can help you sort through your skills and your dreams to get the right job for you. I can assist you in finding the right strategy for YOUR job hunt, and getting you on the path to your dream job. Contact me now. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com