I wrote this for some Yahoo Groups I’m on, and thought it would be a great resource for you. If you have any resources to add, please leave a comment.
Here are 10 resources I’d offer up to those in a job search RIGHT NOW, and those who are concerned about future/looming/pending transitions:
- JibberJobber.com. Yeah, that’s my site, and it’s self-serving for me to put it first. Understand it’s a freemium site, which means you can have a free account for life, and optionally upgrade, and many people get value out of the free side. JibberJobber replaces the spreadsheet and spiral notebook you are using to manage and organize your job search, allowing you to get long-term value out of all of the data you are collecting in your job search. Plus, once you land your job, you can (should) continue to use it to manage your relationships in a way you can’t on LinkedIn. It is NOT a social network, rather a complement to your social networking strategy.
- Indeed or SimplyHired. These are the two biggest job board aggregators. Instead of searching through dozens or hundreds of job boards, go to one of these two to see what’s being posted almost everywhere. Realize, though, that your job board strategy should be a SMALL part of your job search strategy, assuming that many jobs posted might already be filled, or you’ll have hundreds of resumes you are competing against. Also, a strong job board strategy includes checking boards that are niche (profession or industry) or geography… not just ONE board.
- Professional help. Seriously, consider getting a coach and/or resume writer. There are a number of job search coaches and resume writers I partner with who can help you. You can also go to CareerDirectors.com and some other industry sites to look for certified career professionals. If you make $x,xxx per month, how much are you losing as your job search goes forward? I lost tens of thousands of dollars because I didn’t bring in help, and spent my time on the wrong path in my job search.
- LinkedIn, of course. If you have to choose ONE social environment for your job search, it’s LinkedIn. My second edition of I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? has more information for job seekers, including a 10 point list on using LinkedIn for job seekers. If you aren’t getting value out of LinkedIn, you are doing something wrong. And stay tuned for info on the second edition.
- Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters. This is Dave Perry’s book. This book is a MUST READ, and will help you expand your vision of what you could and should be doing. Another excellent book, if you feel like you were thrown under the bus, is We Got Fired, by Harvey Mackay. I am almost done with this book and have found it to be extremely therapeutic (maybe I’ll get this chip off my shoulder after all :p).
- Develop a network of recruiters who you can ask hard questions to. These aren’t recruiters to find you jobs, rather recruiters who you can ask “this just happened with this other recruiter, or company, … what does it mean?” and “why isn’t my resume getting me interviews?” This is a network friend who can help you understand the process.
- Looking for company opportunities or key people to network into? Go to search.twitter.com and search for company names. I bet 9 out of 10 times you won’t find what you are looking for, but that 1 time might be gold, and it only takes a few minutes. You don’t need an account… just go to that website. This is also a great place for market research, salespeople, etc. Also, same principle applies to blogsearch.google.com, to find players in your industry or profession.
- CareerHub blog – there are dozens of career coaches who blog there and they help you understand stuff you should be thinking about, whether it’s career management or job search.
- A good understanding of the impact of being “wounded.” I think it’s CRITICAL to not come across as a wounded animal in your job search. Bitter, depressed, etc. will have a negative impact on your outcome. I’m not saying you can’t have feelings, of course, but you need to figure out how to pull yourself together and become the professional you are. An HR professional told me, early in my job search, because I was pouting (we were/are friends) “Jason, HR can smell blood a mile away.” He was telling me to be very careful about how I came across in my networking, even to good friends. You can read more here: https://blog.jibberjobber.com/2006/10/11/i-smell-blood
- JibberJobber One Thing – a few weeks ago I set up a Yahoo Group and started to send ONE email each day giving you an ACTIONABLE item that can be done in just a few minutes. I don’t want to overwhelm anyone (myself included!), but if you want to get a daily nudge, this has turned out to be a fun nudger 🙂 Sign up here.
I’m so passionate about career management, and being the CEO of Me, Inc, that I could just scream it from the rooftops. I plead with you, whether you are in a job search or not, whether you own your own business (like me) or not, to seriously take control of your own career, and start doing this stuff ON PURPOSE!
Go back to #1 above (JibberJobber), get signed up for a free account, and then start working on the rest of this list – ON PURPOSE!
Jason-
When I read the last phrase in your post, “ON PURPOSE” two things came to mind 1) do these things consciously and 2) define your Purpose and do these things for that reason.
Doing these things wilfully without knowing why is a waste of time and effort.
Excellent advice as usual, Jason! Though I still have the LinkedIn ebook, one of my clients took my hard copy so I will have even more reason to buy the second edition, especially since I know you worked hard to enhance it. I need to read what’s already in my library too. I’ve had Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters for over a year.
I think it is important for job seekers to work on all the things on your list and plan their job search as they would a job, scheduling specific time to work on all of the above.
Of course, I could suggest that they seek professional help too… and I know there are many great career coaches and resume writers out there who can make the process easier. My clients continually tell me so, whether they are contemplating a move out of a bad situation or actually unemployed. They are relieved to have their job search started off on the right foot with a professional resume.
Can I add a website that’s for students? I recently saw this around. It’s nuResume (www.nuresume.com), a student resume network where y’know, ‘students’ can build their free online resume, then post their jobs wanted ads, get alerts for matching jobs, and then, hopefully, get found by employers. I just signed up and I’m still browsing through the pages of the site, and though it looks like it’s still starting up, I bet it’s going to be a great resource for students in the long run.
What about caterer.com – the guys that are famous for the littel Gordon Ramsay Videos? Do you guys rate them, not aware of them or do they not just rank?