I’ve been at this job hunting business for a month now with no results; not one interview; only recruiting agencies and multi-level marketing schemes who want to take my money to give me a “leg up” on jobs that are never advertised on job boards or anywhere else—sound familiar? It’s like paying for “insider information.” My first call was from a national headhunter who wanted to “invite” me to a closed meeting after reviewing my resume and cover letter. Beware of the word, “invite.” If you begin to feel like a fish, then you are correct. I later found out by bypassing the caller that ultimately I would be asked to pay a one-time fee of $11,000 to become part of a national consulting network. I politely said, “no thanks” and asked the VP to remove my name from the “invite” list. My other experience was a company in Texas who wanted inside sales staff to buy and sell their assessment tool products to business and industry. Again, I politely refused and thanked the caller for his offer, but reminded him that I didn’t want to compete against myself (I don’t think he got the hint).

My advice if you insist on using search engines like careerbuilder.com and monster.com is to not spend more than five hours a week. Set your search agents to select narrowly so that you meet minimum qualifications for jobs you’re interested in. Don’t waste your time looking for manufacturing jobs if you have no experience. This seems like a “no brainer” but these jobs do come up if you don’t narrow your field of industry. For my search, I selected three search agents: CEO, senior management, and consulting in health, government, and business development. I included all 50 states for one and three states for the remaining two search agents. I check daily so I asked to be notified daily and set my search to the “last 24 hours.” This way I don’t waste time with redundant job advertisements.

Now to the point of applying online versus email. I prefer to apply online because it gives you the opportunity to provide a cover letter with your resume that you can paste into the resume section of your application. Be sure to write cover letters specific to the jobs you are applying for which implies you did a little homework about the company and are not randomly sending out cover letters. There’s nothing worse that telling your prospective employer that you have experience working in the public sector if you’re applying to a Fortune 500 company. Also be sure to have different versions of your resume depending on type and level of job you’re applying to—e.g. don’t list entry-level jobs if you’re applying for executive positions; typically one goes back to the last four jobs or fifteen years of relevant experience. Be sure not to have lapses in your employment dates because it usually indicates a resignation, termination, or illness.

On a more serious note, I’m finding that job boards are not the way to go for high-level executive positions. Granted I’m aiming high because I’m satisfied with what I’m now doing but I’m interested in the process of looking for another job in another industry and what’s available on the Internet. Most companies do respond with an acknowledgement of your application, many of which are driven by computer programs with data-based management. I did to my surprise receive a written acknowledgement by snail mail for one CEO position and that the process would take another two months before interviews were lined up.

Next month we will discuss phone interviews. There are basic dos and don’ts to being interviewed by phone and giving too much information is equivalent to talking too much about yourself and indicates to the other person that you’re inexperienced or nervous. Better to remain quiet and respond to the questions that are asked than volunteering information.

 "Helpful Hints" is a monthly feature of The Executive Connection. In this section of our Newsletter, we will discuss Internet job search suggestions.

 

"This Month's Helpful Hints"

1. Try a job search on the Internet using a wide range of parameters and see what you get as a response; next narrow your search to three specific cities you might consider relocating and change your salary to at least 25% more than you’re making now.

2. Find a book on job searches at your local bookstore and peruse the information. Understand that professional headhunters only land one job for every ten applicants; and your chances are less than that.

3. Look up a company you’d like to work for on the Internet and go to their home page and look for job listings. Most of your Fortune 500 companies post jobs on the Internet and they offer to keep your resume on file for six months.