The job search can be challenging, so it’s always good to find other ways to boost your chances at landing a gig. The age-old method of simply posting a resume or two, or sending out inquiry letters may not be the most optimal choice to reap prime results.
Brazen Careerist offers 4 tricks that you probably haven’t tried to kick up your efforts a notch. Check them out:
1. Create a “spreadsheet of opportunitiesâ€
Head to Google Drive or Excel to organize every job you’ve ever wanted, heard of or applied for. Be sure to include even those companies where you’ve only dreamed of working. I organized mine by Company, Position, Contacts, Job Application Link, Date of Application, Notes and Status.
Update your spreadsheet daily. It will help you keep track of when to follow up, where you might need to make a new contact and what homework you need to do to prepare for the next interview stages.
This also comes in handy if you’re on unemployment. Having all this information in one place is a great reference guide when you need to prove you’re actively looking for work.
2. Save answers to application questions
Job applications are significantly more complicated than they were just a few years ago.
Many applications now ask specific questions about a project you’re most proud of or require a list of your most useful skills. Instead of just typing this directly into an online form, store those answers (proofread and spell-checked, of course) in a Job Hunt folder in Evernote.
For your next pesky phone screening, keep these questions open during the call so you can quickly reference your best answers. The more you do this, the more comfortable you’ll get answering these questions. (I’ve memorized most of mine by now, which is a bonus since I began to sound really articulate during those calls.)
Evernote also has great a great tagging system, so it’s easy for find responses pertaining to skills or project results when answering new questions on the fly.