Using Social Media in Your Job Search

An increasing number of employers are using social media sites to recruit and to advertise for employees. The majority of open jobs are not posted on job boards, but are found through networking. According to JobVite’s 2013 Social Media Recruiting Survey:

• 94% of recruiters across all industries have adapted to social recruiting
• 78% of recruiters have made a hire using social recruiting
• 93% of recruiters are likely to look at someone's social media profile
• The order of preference is 1. LinkedIn 2. Facebook 3. Twitter

This article covers why use social media, referrals are everything, and how to get started.  

For more info on how to use social media, click here.

Curriculum Vitae Use

A curriculum vitae is a document one uses to apply for employment. It provides detailed information about an individual's educational and work history. Often called a CV, it is much more comprehensive than a resume and therefore it can be much longer. There is no limit to how long, but it must include only information that is needed to illustrate your academic and professional experience. A lengthy CV isn't better than a short one if it contains irrelevant data.

CV features covered in this article include:

• What Should You Put on Your CV?
• CV Mistakes to Avoid

To learn more, click here.

Putting Together a Career Action Plan

A career action plan is a road map that takes you from choosing an occupation to becoming employed in that occupation to reaching your long-term career goals.  The career planning process is ongoing, and bi-directional, meaning you can move back to previous steps when you need to gather more information or clarify your choices.

Your career action plan will be made up of these goals and the steps you will have to take to reach them.  Here's what you need to do: 

• First brainstorm to come up with a list of all your goals. 
• Then break your goals down into short-term and long-term goals.

For more info about writing a career plan, click here

Why you need a career plan

Developing a career action plan can be achieved only after doing a thorough self assessment with a complete exploration of viable career options.  The career planning process is ongoing, and bi-directional, meaning you can move back to previous steps when you need to gather more information or clarify your choices.

For example, a counselor can't set your goals for you. He or she will just help you clarify them and assist you in finding strategies to reach them. You must amend your action plan over time as your goals change, your priorities change, and your career grows.

For more info about writing a career plan, click here

Develop a Career Action Plan

Of desirable career options, one must choose choose an occupation after examining them carefully and determining which one is the best match. After doing a thorough self assessment and an exploration of career options you should develop a career action plan.   

The career planning process is ongoing, and bi-directional, meaning you can move back to previous steps when you need to gather more information or clarify your choices.

Once you have identified an occupation to pursue, you then develop an action plan ncluding the educational or vocational training requirements.

For a discussion of a Career Action Plan see the article here.

Judge Your Job Opportunities

Top recruiters place candidates in new jobs by carefully qualifying job job descriptions.

These recruiters search the job description to see if the manager has realistic expectations. They evaluate the text for a sense of urgency, to help assess the chance of filling the position. They zero  in on the most promising positions.
In your search for jobs, you can steal a few pages from the recruiting playbook. Before investing hours tailoring your standard resume, decide if an opportunity is worth pursuing with the following:

• Study the Job Posting
• Identify the Must-Have Skills
• Determine the Level of Urgency
• Explore the Compensation
• Verify the Hiring Process

To decide if a position is worth the time and effort see more details here

How to Pick the Right Career

The most important thing to do in picking a career is to choose one that is right for you. Finding a career that is a good fit is all that matters. Ignore people who tell you what type of work to pursue. 

You will pour much of yourself into your job, and spend much time at work; your career must be suitable for you. It has to fit well with your interests, aptitudes, work-related values, and personality type. The first steps include:

• Learn about yourself
• Learn about potential occupations

Find more information here.