The Online Job Search Checklist

You know it is critical that you maximize your use of online job sites to speed up the potential for finding a job. Simply putting up your resume and not utilizing any of the site's other features might not be good enough in this competitive job climate. Taking advantage of all the free assistance a top quality online job search site offers is smart.

• If you are not yet signed up with one of several high quality job sites, the first step is to set up a free job search account.
  
  
• After signing up for your account, set up your profile filling in all the fields, including and especially current and past job history, skills and qualifications, education, and desired salary, location and job type (e.g., contract, part-time, full-time). Note that in most cases you can set your current job information to private to reveal when you are ready. Also, you will be able to keep your name and address private to be disclosed at your discretion.
  
  
• The good online job sites will offer free resume and cover letter templates, allowing you to customize a number of resumes for each type of job you apply for. All of this information gets saved in your profile for easy follow-up and continuous use, so be sure to set your resumes up. If you need resume assistance, these sites will offer resume writing services for a fee. Alternatively, you could contact EditNY and get a resume edited for as little as $10.
  
  
• After uploading your resume, it is time to start searching for a job in your chosen geographic location. Your search will be saved in your profile for easy access the next time you log in. Another important feature to utilize in order to get the most out of the time you spend on these job search sites is their ability to track the jobs you apply to, including saving the customized cover letter you sent along. So be sure to consistently revisit this information when applying to future job applications.
  
  
• Peruse the job site's career advice in your particular field. This is useful especially when keeping on top of trends and for learning about a new field you are interested in.
  
  
• Career tools should be plentiful on these sites and will include information on expected salary in your chosen field, other benchmarking reports, profiles on specific careers to give a good picture of what the job is like, and much more.
  
  
• Equally important to visit on these sites is their career advice ranging from resumes to cover letters to interview preparation and salary negotiation.
  

Online job search sites are increasingly building themselves as a one-stop shop for job hunting. Employers and recruiters rely on these sites for quality resume searches, so be sure to set up an online job search account and be proactive in searching for employer and recruiter job postings.

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