Responding to Job Postings
(Source www.rileyguide.com)
The fastest way to respond to Internet job listing is to e-mail your cover letter and resume to the person or organization indicated.
However, there are some simple rules to follow before hitting the "send" key. Look at it this way. You have 15 or 20 seconds to get someone's attention using email. In that time, you must convince the recipient to
open your email
read your message
not delete your email
Do it wrong, get into the wrong mail box, or make someone's job harder, and the best resume in the world from the most qualified person in the world will be trashed.
Getting your email opened, read, and actually considered really comes down to some simple rules.
Use the right Subject. "Seeking employment" is not an acceptable subject. If you are responding to an advertisement, use the job title or job code cited in the advertisement to make it easy for your e-mail to be recognized and routed to the appropriate person. If you are "cold calling" an employer, put a few words stating your objective or in the Subject line.
Include a cover letter in your email and address it to the recipient. "Here's my resume, please tell me if you have any jobs I might fill" is not a cover letter and does not encourage anyone to look at your resume. Whether or not you are responding to an advertised opening, the cover letter will introduce you, specify how you meet the needs of the employer, and will encourage the recipient to read your full resume.
Always send your resume in the body of the e-mail message, not as an attachment. Force someone to open an attachment just to get to know you and your 20 seconds are over before they even start. Put that resume right in the message so the recipient will see it as soon as he or she opens the message. This technique also helps you get through e-mail systems that reject all attachments in this day of rampant computer viruses.
Make sure your resume is properly formatted for e-mail. Plain text resumes not formatted for email can be unreadable, and unreadable resumes will most likely be deleted. Take the time to make sure it will look as good on all computers and in all email systems as it does on your screen. This means shorter text lines, spacing between sections, and text-based highlights.
If responding to an advertisement, read the application instructions and follow them. Failing to follow application instructions not only delays your resume, it labels you as someone who doesn't take direction well. It's the Trash bin for you. They might specify an email address and job code to use. They might even actually ask you to send your resume as a Word attachment. Whatever they want, you do.
Always remember: It only takes a second for someone to delete an e-mail message. Don't give them a reason to trash you! Think before you respond!
Check out our websites:
BestLogic Staffing www.BestLogicStaffing.com
AssembleMyResume.com www.AssembleMyResume.com
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Always move from industry to a specific job search
Always Move From Industry to a Specific Job search
While searching for employers and opportunities, looking for job listings at several levels, and thinking about moving from industry and resources to specific sites and positions.
While searching for employers and opportunities, looking for job listings at several levels, and thinking about moving from industry and resources to specific sites and positions.
Tips
- Start with www.indeed.com and www.simplyhired. The following websites allow job seekers to find jobs posted on thousands of company career sites and job boards.
- Make sure to check out the employer’s website, even if you find that they’ve listed jobs in other locations. Job Boards are expensive and companies tend to list more job requirements on their own website.
- Target the online industry journals and newspapers for your profession.
- Scan through the appropriate professional web sites and journals to find job listings marketed to specific jobs, industries, and locations.
- See if you know anyone at the company where you are applying to. If you do, try networking with that individual.
- Even if you don’t know anyone there, maybe you are connected to someone through www.linkedin.com . Another great networking website. If you have a connection on linkedin.com, ask the person to introduce you to the hiring manager.
- Once you have applied to a position, make sure to follow up in a week or two. We always recommend that all our candidates keep track of all the places they have applied to and follow up with the person in charge.
- FYI… (Source www.CareerXRoads.com )
Referrals make up 27.3% of all external hires!
The Company Website represents 1 in 5 of all external hires (approx 20%).
Hires attributed to specific Job Boards (Monster.com, CareerBuilder and HotJobs) and generic Niche Boards represent only 12.3% of external hires.
Check out our websites: BestLogic Staffing – www.bestlogicstaffing.com
AssembleMyResume.com – www.assemblemyresume.com
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Best Practices for LinkedIn – Using another growing form of social media to network
Best Practices for LinkedIn – Using another growing form of social media to network ( BestLogic Staffing - www.bestlogicstaffing.com )
LinkedIn has emerged as the social media network of choice for professionals who would like to build their career oriented networks. As our previous posts have shown you, using a social media platform comes with personal responsibility, and LinkedIn is no different in this arena. However, because it has been created exclusively as a professional network platform, the stakes for maintaining a clean image are even higher.
1. Begin with your profile.
And keep it current. List all your former employers and schools – the more exposure you have, the easier it becomes to network.
2. Make your profile public, and include the link to it in your email signature.
3. Add a professional photograph of yourself to your profile.
Network contacts and potential employers prefer being able to put a face to a name. Having a professional photograph of yours uploaded to your profile increases your credibility and demystifies your professional persona.
4. Use career related keywords in your professional headline.
5. Personalize your network invitations.
We’ve all used the “I’d like to add you to my professional network” message, which is not always a good way to go. Include a short, personalized message that details your reasoning for seeking a new connection with that particular person.
6. Separate quality from quantity.
The difference between LinkedIn and every other social media platform is that LinkedIn is not about increasing exposure through numbers alone. When you begin expanding your network, try and remember whether you’re connecting with just anyone or connecting with the right people.
7. Build your network using your own Outlook and e-mail contacts and by adding your real friends.
8. Stay away from spamming and lying about how you know someone.
9. Be proactive about building your network.
10. Once you’ve established a basic structure for your new network, find groups on LinkedIn that relate to your career goals and sign on as a member. And once again, keep yourself visible and proactive.
Visit our Website: www.bestlogicstaffing.com or
www.assemblemyresume.com
LinkedIn has emerged as the social media network of choice for professionals who would like to build their career oriented networks. As our previous posts have shown you, using a social media platform comes with personal responsibility, and LinkedIn is no different in this arena. However, because it has been created exclusively as a professional network platform, the stakes for maintaining a clean image are even higher.
1. Begin with your profile.
And keep it current. List all your former employers and schools – the more exposure you have, the easier it becomes to network.
2. Make your profile public, and include the link to it in your email signature.
3. Add a professional photograph of yourself to your profile.
Network contacts and potential employers prefer being able to put a face to a name. Having a professional photograph of yours uploaded to your profile increases your credibility and demystifies your professional persona.
4. Use career related keywords in your professional headline.
5. Personalize your network invitations.
We’ve all used the “I’d like to add you to my professional network” message, which is not always a good way to go. Include a short, personalized message that details your reasoning for seeking a new connection with that particular person.
6. Separate quality from quantity.
The difference between LinkedIn and every other social media platform is that LinkedIn is not about increasing exposure through numbers alone. When you begin expanding your network, try and remember whether you’re connecting with just anyone or connecting with the right people.
7. Build your network using your own Outlook and e-mail contacts and by adding your real friends.
8. Stay away from spamming and lying about how you know someone.
9. Be proactive about building your network.
10. Once you’ve established a basic structure for your new network, find groups on LinkedIn that relate to your career goals and sign on as a member. And once again, keep yourself visible and proactive.
Visit our Website: www.bestlogicstaffing.com or
www.assemblemyresume.com
Monday, April 5, 2010
Effectively Using Twitter to Find a Job
Effectively Using Twitter to Find a Job (BestLogic Staffing www.bestlogicstaffing.com )
We can’t say this enough – using social media to find work is finding the balance between propriety, brevity and creativity; especially with a service such as Twitter that offers an extremely limited space for a status update.
The Internet is replete with stories of people finding jobs through their social media and Twitter networks, so obviously, it can be done. Having a positive attitude helps.
The first rule is “keep it short.”
The second rule is to use strategy and maximize the scope of Twitter’s reach for your benefit.
A simple “How To” and other job search resources for using Twitter:
Connect with recruiters online – You can find recruiters in your industry via TweepSearch, a site that indexes Twitter profiles. A simple search by us yielded over 11,000 results, so remember to be specific.
Sites such as TheTalentBuzz.com recommend following Twitter profiles like @JobAngels, @JobShouts and even TwitHire to find and post leads regarding jobs.
Follow Miriam Salpeter of @keppie_careers (who has been mentioned on Forbes.com) especially to gain insights and helpful tips for social media jobs and training.
Mashble.com has an exhaustive list of Twitter profiles by industry, job type, and region.
BestLogic Staffing - We use twitter to list all of our current positions or any news that would be helpful to anyone… Feel free to follow us: http://twitter.com/BestLogic
BestLogic Staffing – www.bestlogicstaffing.com
AssembleMyResume.com – www.assemblemyresume.com
Monday, March 29, 2010
Five tips for using Facebook & MySpace for Job Searches
Five tips for using Facebook & MySpace for Job Searches
(By Neha Bawa -BestLogic Staffing – www.bestlogicstaffing.com )
Increasingly, people are beginning to turn more and more to online social networks to tap into their job search potential. And while they’re online, it’s easy to forget that an electronic trail is much harder to cover up than a paper trail, so establishing a few rules of decorum that won’t hinder your job search process or your employment possibilities.
1. Stay current
While it’s important to stay abreast of developing trends in your field, it’s also important to keep your own online persona active. If you’re in the market and looking for work, keep yourself in the public eye. You can’t be considered if people don’t know you’re around.
2. Keep your status updates relevant to your job search
This part of networking is rather flexible. We all tend to connect with friends and family on online social networks, so, as far as possible, keep your status updates related to your quest for employment and career. Mentioning your efforts to expand your qualifications is also noteworthy.
3. Establish boundaries for social networking against professional networking.
The last tip is actually a great segue for this one. Yes, we all interact with friends and family on social networks, especially on Facebook and MySpace, but an online presence is very easy to track and research. Therefore, establishing boundaries between social and professional networking becomes essential. The best rule of thumb with boundaries is: “If you don’t want your mother to see it, then don’t post it.”
4. Don’t complain about your employer, internship, professor or colleagues. You never know when that could come back to haunt you.
A quick internet search will show you a lot of stories of people who have vented about their employers and colleagues online only to regret it with drastic steps taken against them. Yes, it’s possible to lose your job over letting out a little steam in the public sphere. So hold yourself back when the temptation to whine is high.
5. Limit the number of photos posted.
Being active online means considering the repercussions of every step taken. College students tend to post pictures of parties and drinking nights, which don’t reflect very well in the public sphere and they hinder the prospects of future employment. A future employer may not be willing to develop a generous opinion of you or your professionalism after stumbling across a photo-journal of a wild, drunk night of yours.
Make sure to Visit our websites:
BestLogic Staffing AssembleMyResume.com
www.BestLogicStaffing.com & www.AssembleMyResume.com
(By Neha Bawa -BestLogic Staffing – www.bestlogicstaffing.com )
Increasingly, people are beginning to turn more and more to online social networks to tap into their job search potential. And while they’re online, it’s easy to forget that an electronic trail is much harder to cover up than a paper trail, so establishing a few rules of decorum that won’t hinder your job search process or your employment possibilities.
1. Stay current
While it’s important to stay abreast of developing trends in your field, it’s also important to keep your own online persona active. If you’re in the market and looking for work, keep yourself in the public eye. You can’t be considered if people don’t know you’re around.
2. Keep your status updates relevant to your job search
This part of networking is rather flexible. We all tend to connect with friends and family on online social networks, so, as far as possible, keep your status updates related to your quest for employment and career. Mentioning your efforts to expand your qualifications is also noteworthy.
3. Establish boundaries for social networking against professional networking.
The last tip is actually a great segue for this one. Yes, we all interact with friends and family on social networks, especially on Facebook and MySpace, but an online presence is very easy to track and research. Therefore, establishing boundaries between social and professional networking becomes essential. The best rule of thumb with boundaries is: “If you don’t want your mother to see it, then don’t post it.”
4. Don’t complain about your employer, internship, professor or colleagues. You never know when that could come back to haunt you.
A quick internet search will show you a lot of stories of people who have vented about their employers and colleagues online only to regret it with drastic steps taken against them. Yes, it’s possible to lose your job over letting out a little steam in the public sphere. So hold yourself back when the temptation to whine is high.
5. Limit the number of photos posted.
Being active online means considering the repercussions of every step taken. College students tend to post pictures of parties and drinking nights, which don’t reflect very well in the public sphere and they hinder the prospects of future employment. A future employer may not be willing to develop a generous opinion of you or your professionalism after stumbling across a photo-journal of a wild, drunk night of yours.
Make sure to Visit our websites:
BestLogic Staffing AssembleMyResume.com
www.BestLogicStaffing.com & www.AssembleMyResume.com
Friday, March 19, 2010
Using Social Networks for Your Job Search
Using Social Networks for Your Job Search ( By Neha Bawa – BestLogic Staffing)
The good thing about social networking is that it allows you to create a brand or an image for yourself in a very public sphere with very little cost to you. At least financially.
With social networks expanding beyond the reach of teenagers and college students, creating and utilizing professional contacts is become easier and daunting at the same time. The key is to know how to separate the grain from the chaff. In other words, when you’re using networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn or even Facebook, begin with researching and following people in your industry.
Websites such as Twitter allow the option of creating lists that you can follow; therefore staying current with the industry becomes quite easy.However, for professional purposes, LinkedIn is probably the best place to begin because you can tap into your own network contacts, which can include your friends, employers and school networks.
About.com has a list of recommendations to follow when establish an online presence geared specifically for job searching. Bear in mind that creating a credible online presence takes a lot of time, effort, consistency (i.e., becoming a subject matter expert) and frequent updates. Although frequency is a relative and subjective term, an absence of longer than two weeks may become detrimental to your online persona.
Other resources VisualCV TweetMyJobs
For more information, go to our websites:
www.bestlogicstaffing.com & www.assemblemyresume.com
The good thing about social networking is that it allows you to create a brand or an image for yourself in a very public sphere with very little cost to you. At least financially.
With social networks expanding beyond the reach of teenagers and college students, creating and utilizing professional contacts is become easier and daunting at the same time. The key is to know how to separate the grain from the chaff. In other words, when you’re using networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn or even Facebook, begin with researching and following people in your industry.
Websites such as Twitter allow the option of creating lists that you can follow; therefore staying current with the industry becomes quite easy.However, for professional purposes, LinkedIn is probably the best place to begin because you can tap into your own network contacts, which can include your friends, employers and school networks.
About.com has a list of recommendations to follow when establish an online presence geared specifically for job searching. Bear in mind that creating a credible online presence takes a lot of time, effort, consistency (i.e., becoming a subject matter expert) and frequent updates. Although frequency is a relative and subjective term, an absence of longer than two weeks may become detrimental to your online persona.
Other resources VisualCV TweetMyJobs
For more information, go to our websites:
www.bestlogicstaffing.com & www.assemblemyresume.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Writing a thank you letter
Writing a “Thank You” Letter
(Written by Neha Bawa – BestLogic Staffing)
Writing a thank you letter after a job interview is absolutely necessary. Really, we can’t over emphasize the necessity of sending a thank you letter to your interviewer within an appropriate amount of time, which usually should not exceed 24 hours.
Not only is a thank you letter courteous and respectful, it also reinforces your intention for seeking that particular position.
The format for writing a thank you letter is the same as for writing a cover letter. And just like the cover letters, thank you letters need to be customized for their recipients as well.
Begin your letter with thanking the person who interviewed you.
In the second paragraph, reiterate the particulars of the job that make you a good candidate for it, and once again, but briefly, remind your interviewer of your skills and achievements and state any achievements of yours that you may have neglected or forgotten to mention at the interview. Once again, keep your letter extremely brief.
If you are short on time and need to respond immediately, then sending an email to thank your interviewer is acceptable. Keep in mind that if a panel has interviewed you, then a letter needs to be sent to each individual at the panel.
Make sure to check out our websites:
www.BestLogicstaffing.com & www.assemblemyresume.com
(Written by Neha Bawa – BestLogic Staffing)
Writing a thank you letter after a job interview is absolutely necessary. Really, we can’t over emphasize the necessity of sending a thank you letter to your interviewer within an appropriate amount of time, which usually should not exceed 24 hours.
Not only is a thank you letter courteous and respectful, it also reinforces your intention for seeking that particular position.
The format for writing a thank you letter is the same as for writing a cover letter. And just like the cover letters, thank you letters need to be customized for their recipients as well.
Begin your letter with thanking the person who interviewed you.
In the second paragraph, reiterate the particulars of the job that make you a good candidate for it, and once again, but briefly, remind your interviewer of your skills and achievements and state any achievements of yours that you may have neglected or forgotten to mention at the interview. Once again, keep your letter extremely brief.
If you are short on time and need to respond immediately, then sending an email to thank your interviewer is acceptable. Keep in mind that if a panel has interviewed you, then a letter needs to be sent to each individual at the panel.
Make sure to check out our websites:
www.BestLogicstaffing.com & www.assemblemyresume.com
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