Just Another Manic Monday (and your job search)

I got up this morning and had a somewhat odd flashback to a time about ten or fifteen years ago. Like most people, I never liked Monday’s. After spending a weekend doing what I wanted to do, and maybe sleeping a little late, I had to get up early and head back to work. The only exception to that rule was when I was looking for a new job.

In the old days (or back in the day as they say now), I would be somewhat excited about Monday, because I had spent Sunday pouring over the Sunday want ads looking for jobs. Because newspapers ruled the day at that time, the Sunday classifieds was where you would see America’s largest companies advertising for their best jobs. You could search the ad in alphabetical order or by job class and find the best openings. The companies would give you the skill set and experience for which you needed to apply, and their contact information to submit a resume. Most wanted resumes via “snail mail” (the post office) or via fax. Some really advanced companies had email, but few had any online application systems.

The Monster
But all that changed when companies like Monster.com came online. When Monster, Dice and Career Builder started, few people used their services. Those companies spent many years losing money, waiting for companies to find and use them. They sent armies of sales people out to contact HR departments, convincing them that online job boards were the wave of the future, and they were right.

Want ads? What are want ads?
Today, I have not even looked at a Sunday classified ad section in many, many years. I have and continue to look at online job boards whenever I consider changing jobs, and I advise all of my clients to become experts at using them. I give a great deal of advice to my clients on how to write their resumes for the online search engines, so that HR recruiters and head hunters can find you online among the noise of the millions of other job applicants trying to get noticed.

Click here to Subscribe to Direct your career! by Email

You need to take the time to ensure that your online job app is flexible, and contains the key words that the recruiters enter when looking for applicants for their openings. Today is much different when performing your job search. No one cares about the color of your resume, the weight and quality of the paper it is written on, or even the look of it in all candor. Many companies that take your resume electronically actually strip it and reformat it into a plain text copy, with none of the formatting you entered anyway.

Suprised?   I thought so.

So, if you want help, or more information, email me at mike.anderson@directyourcareer.com or better yet, down load my free ebook or buy the resume package on this site for $10. If you don’t like the resumes, I will refund your money.

Have a great Manic Monday -

Mike