How to Find a Job (when the economy sucks) Part 3 of 3

Okay, still with me? Good. Here is part 3 of the series.

Once you have your resume pages in line to be indexed by the major search engines, you want to create a budget for advertising in Google. You will be amazed at how well this could work for you! For example, in this screen shot (above) I am looking for an administrative assistant resume and since I am not all that specific with my search, I get back a lot of what I don’t want which is sample resumes. However, just to the right in the “Sponsored Links” section is an advertisement. Now, what if I did a similar search for resumes matching your background and in that same spot is an advertisement leading people to your online resume page?

Sound good to you? Just expensive? How much do you think it would cost you to advertise on Google, the #1 Search engine on the planet?

The Google Ad Words Program that is responsible for the ads you see next to your search results costs a $5.00 activation fee and whatever budget you set. In other words, you buy certain keywords (“administrative assistant,” or “VP of Sales”). You write a short ad that links to your site (or in this case, your resume). You set a spending limit of say… $20.00. When someone does a search using one of your keywords and clicks your ad, so many cents are subtracted from the $20.00 budget you set up. Once the $20.00 budget is spent, your ad comes down. It is a VERY simple service to join and use, plus they have lots of tutorials for your review. Check them out and you will be glad you did.

When you think of job boards, sites like Monster, Hot Jobs and Careerbuilder come to mind; but there are many more job boards out there. More than I can count and more coming online every day. No one site has all the jobs that are posted, especially since it costs money to post those jobs. That being said, when looking online for advertised jobs, take this approach: 1) Search with Google, 2) Search Job Central, 3) Search the major boards. Why? Searching Google (in a certain way) will uncover jobs “under the radar” so there will be less competition. Searching Job Central will connect you to jobs on the career sections of various company websites. This means that you will find more jobs there as it does not cost a company extra to have their own jobs listed on their website. Finally, search the major boards, just because you want to keep all of your bases covered.

What you are looking at (above) are search results from Google. With this this search, I was trying to find Recruiter Jobs in Ga. What I want you to notice are the domain names for the sites; many of them are from job boards I have never heard of (or in some cases) have not been to in a very long time. (Flipdog, for example. I did not know that they were still around.)

(Above) Here are a few examples that you might want to experiment with in your job search. As you may notice, I have used several keywords and phrases that are typically found in job descriptions. Although many job seekers glaze over such terminology (and recruiters for that matter), they are very useful in finding opportunities that most job seekers will overlook.

A few more examples:

If your niche industry is slow, why not try recruiting for a different sector? A recent article gives some terrific insight towards this idea.

John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, told Yahoo! HotJobs that careers in the following fields may offer a good chance of weathering a storm this year.

  • Education. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has historically shown teaching to be relatively recession-proof. But demographics are important: High-growth areas like the Sun Belt offer much better prospects than the Rust Belt.
  • Energy. “This is a major issue for the global economy, and jobs related to oil and gas, alternative energy and even nuclear are likely to see strong growth,” Challenger said.
  • Health care. Almost half the 30 fastest growing occupations are concentrated in health services — including medical assistants, physical therapists, physician assistants, home health aides, and medical records and health information technicians — according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • International business. “If you have a strong knowledge of other cultures, and an ability to work in another country, you’ll find plenty of opportunities,” according to John Challenger. “If you’re first generation Chinese, with business skills and Chinese language skills, you’re in good shape.
  • Environmental sector. There is a huge and growing industry geared to combat global warming. “Not only will professionals with skills in sustainability issues be in demand through the end of the decade, we are likely to shortages of professionals with ‘green’ skills,” said Rona Fried, president of sustainablebusiness.com, a networking service for sustainable businesses.
  • Security. “Crime doesn’t stop during a recession, and police officers, port security specialists and international security experts will continue to be in demand,” Challenger emphasized.

Additional tips:

  • If you want to track the resumes you have been submitting, sign up a for a Gmail account. Use the “plus” feature when sending out your resumes. Use a different email alias for each position you apply to. (For example: johndoe+americahires@gmail.com will be delivered to johndoe@gmail.com)
  • Make contacting you as convenient as possible, sign up for an Instant Messenger account (Skype AIM, Yahoo IM) and post your IM alias on your resume beneath your phone number. Recruiters who work late hours might reach out to you if they see you online late as well.
  • Read blogs that discuss your industry. Leave comments with a link back to your resume page.
  • And of course… Linkedin.com

Any questions? (End presentation)

Follow me on Social Media: