Top Five List for Job Search Repairs and Maintenance - CareerAlley

Top Five List for Job Search Repairs and Maintenance - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Just because nobody complains doesnt mean all parachutes are perfect. Benny Hill If youve been a long time reader of CareerAlley, you will notice that Ive been including a fair number of Top List posts. This helps me shake up the content a bit but also provides readers with a quick hit list on the topic of the day. To make it easier to find my Top lists, Ive add a page that lists the Top List posts on CareerAlley. This will include not only my posts, but guest posts as well. Speaking of Top Lists, todays post focuses on repairs and maintenance required to keep your job search on the road. What exactly does this mean? Things change and you need to keep all of your stuff up to date. Some things may not work as well as they used to (or maybe they are not working at all). So while you may think that your job search is in good shape, its always a good idea to get an oil change every few thousand miles or so. Resume Review: When was the last time you reviewed your resume? If it was more than 3 months ago, you are way overdue for a resume review. There are always the big things (like, did you get promoted, did your boss get promoted, did you get more responsibilities) which you really should capture as they happen. It is usually the small things you forget like, major accomplishments in the last few months or a new project. You should review your resume once per month (but certainly no longer than every three months) and revise it as necessary. == How Often Should You Update Your Resume? Review Your Job Search Marketing Plan: If there were no commercials for products, how would you know they existed? The same goes for your job search if know one knows you are looking for a job, how will anyone know to ask you to interview? If you dont already have a job search marketing plan, then now is the time to create one. If you already have a plan but are not getting much traction, now is the time to review and revise it. So what, exactly, is a job search marketing plan? It should include all of the companies where you would like to work, a list of recruiting firms you would like to work with and a list of all of your friends, family and acquaintances can help you find a job. == Why You Need a Job Search Marketing Toolkit Keep a List: Unless you are incredibly organized, Im willing to bet that you dont keep track of who youve contacted, where youve posted your resume, jobs youve applied for, etc. You need to keep an organized list of all of your activity otherwise you run the risk of applying twice or not updating key posted resumes. As with everything in life, there is a tool to help with this (it is called an organized list!). The list should include recruiters, anyone from your network that youve specifically contacted, places where your resume is posted (job search sites, company career sites, etc.). Take a look at the following template == Job Search Tracking Document Change Your Resources: If youve not been getting much activity on your resume (more on this next), you need think about using different resources. Start using different job search sites (but not more than 5), add additional companies to your list of targeted companies for job search and search out the friend of friends on LinkedIn. Also, review your plan of attack. How are you spending your time? Have you allocated time to each of your job search resources? Maybe its time to reevaluate and spend your time differently. == Spring Cleaning for Job Search Cover Letter Redo: You should have many versions of your cover letter. One for applying for specific jobs, one to introduce yourself to a recruiter, one to introduce yourself to a company and a generic cover letter for sites that require one. If you use one cover letter version for everything, start work on multiple versions. And, while Im on the topic, each your cover letters should be further personalized depending on what and where it is going. As an example, when applying for specific jobs, ensure you tailor the cover letter to the specific job and company. ==6 Tips to Improve your Cover Letters Good luck in your search. Joey Trebif