Hints for the Hunters...Job Hunters, that is

I may not have the best paying job in the world, but I can say that in my 15 years in the workforce, I've gone a total of 4.5 months being unemployed. I'm sure part of that is luck, but I also think that part of it is that when I was out of work, I strategized how I was going to search for something new.

So, these are the things that seemed to work for me.

• All of us have a variety of skills so resumes are not a one size fits all proposition, but neither do they have to be custom tailored for every job you're applying for. Using myself as an example I have always had three resumes: Administration, Meeting Planning, NFP Management. Each one highlights the tasks I did in that particular area, with other elements coming secondary and at the bottom of my job descriptions.

• If you've been in the working world for 3 or more years, ALWAYS put your work experience at the top, your education at the bottom. And after about 5 years, your GPA doesn't need to be included. At that point a majority of employers are looking for experience, not how well you did on your physics finals.
  
  
• Same goes for school oriented activities---they've really no bearing in the real world at that point unless you were a member of something that also has an adult element (the Human Resources Association has a student branch as an example). Instead list your professional memberships and volunteer activities that might apply to your position.
  
  
• DO NOT list volunteer organizations that could be perceived as political. I volunteer and serve on boards/committees for Planned Parenthood--I NEVER list this on my resume, it's too much of a hot button and even though they're not supposed to ask you about politics, but things like this are a dead giveaway of where you stand. I'm very proud of what I do for this organization, but I could easily be potentially interviewing with someone who wouldn't appreciate it at all.
  
  
• In these tough economic times one thing could seriously hinder you---being overqualified for a position. I know that truly sucks and you'd think someone would want an employee with great education/experience. Instead they see you as someone who's going to jump ship as soon as a better opportunity comes along. That may be so, and honestly it's not uncommon in this day and age, but you don't want them to know that in the least. So here's my rule of thumb: If they ask for high school education, leave off your bachelors or say something generic like "completed classes towards an XXXX. If they ask for a bachelor's and you have a masters...just leave it off. If you're very far along in your career, most places don't even look at the education aspect enough to put forth any lengthy questions or hardpressing questions. Does this sound shady? Yeah, a little, but it's a dog eat dog world out there for job hunters and you have to maximize your position as much as possible. Just don't go the other way and say you have a degree you don't....this is a sure fire way to hit the round file ASAP.
  
  
• References are great, but create extra work for the interview by having to call them. Give the interviewer 3 or more letters of recommendation and chances are you don't even have to worry about supplying references. Just be sure those letters are from previous employers or managers. Heck, if you're getting the boot from a job, negotiate that you receive those letters before your body leaves the office that last day...works too if you've been canned (I speak from experience here). Most bosses aren't out to sabatoge your career, they just don't want you in their office or drawing unemployment off them! The quicker you have a job, the quicker they've ridded themselves of you. Brutal I know, but it's the truth baby.
  

• Be realistic in your money expectations. Just because you made $50,000 as an XXX doesn't mean you're going to make that kind of money doing something different. Hell, chances are you aren't going to make that in the same field, in this economy. The best way to calculate it is to take the unemployment percentage in your area and deduct that amount from your previous salary. Example: unemployment in Chicago is 9%, deduct that and you come up with a salary of $45,500 based on that $50,000. This is going to be the more realistic salary to expect in a position similar to what you previously had. If you were fired from your previous position (not laid off for economic reasons, but actually fired), then take another 2% off that number. It's the penalty for the resume black-mark, unfortunately.
  
  
• If they ask for a salary expectation, give them a range of about $5000 with the low being an amount you can comfortably live on.
  
  
• This is a biggie: Treat your job search like a full-time job. Sending out five resumes a day is not going to cut it. My ultimate goal was to send 10-15 resumes a day with a portion of those being cold resumes unrelated to any ads. Yes, this will take some time and effort on your part to research companies you think you'd be interested in working for. In my case, I went to the library and pulled the list of all Associations in the Chicagoland area and sent resumes to any of them that looked like they might be viable. Doing this landed me two different jobs.
  
  
• Get your ass out of bed-EARLY. You want your e-mailed information to be seen? Then send it early in the a.m. This is when most hiring managers look at their e-mails because the rest of the day is to hectic with everything else they have to do. Send everything between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Make your follow up calls, during those same times---don't call over the lunch hour and don't call at the end of the day when they're trying to eat or get the hell out of the office.
  
  
• Unless it specifically states not to in the ad...follow up your resume with a phone call (and all cold resumes should be followed-up). Just a simple statement to confirm your resume has been received and to ask if they would like any additional information. Let's face it---assertiveness sells, so the only way you're going to get in the door is to assertively sell yourself.
  
  
• This doesn't apply to a lot of areas, but in big cities, it's a major factor: Get over your commuting wants. Chances are you're going to have to spend a little additional time on the train/bus/el or in the car if you want a job. There are very few areas of Chicagoland that aren't accessible by train/bus/el. Those of us who drive deal with 1, 2, 3 hour commutes everyday, so thinking that just by taking public transport you should automatically be granted a straight shot commute on one bus/train to work is basically shooting yourself in the foot. Suck it up and deal with the fact that in the short-term you may have to contend with an hour, hour and a half commute each way. And if you get the interview don't bemoan the commute, for pete's sake--tell them it's going to be your chance to catch up on industry reading or doing your crosswords or winding down after a long day, but do not in any way make that commute sound like a negative.
  
  
• Cover letters---these are your opportunity to highlight the special. Make sure you include anything that you think would be prevalent to the job your applying for (best bet--highlight the first five things they require in their ad). By truly customizing this, you shouldn't need to customize your resumes for each job.
  
  
• REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW...EDIT EDIT EDIT One measly, tiny typo can blow it for you. So review your resume, review your cover letter, ask friends to review them, ask family members to review them. Whatever it takes to ensure you don't have a mistake in there that could blow the whole deal.
  
  
• Take the time to call any business or organization you're applying to and get the exact name (and spelling) of the person your resume should go to---even if the gatekeeper won't give out the person's e-mail address (electronic), you can still address your cover letter to them.
  
  
• If you're sending your information electronically...send it by mail too. Yes, in this day and age you'd think it wouldn't be necessary, but it seems to do the trick for a lot of people, including me many times. The reviewer gets a pretty, formatted piece of work to look at and it's a 2nd look at your resume with very little effort (and $.44 cents) on your part.
  
  
• If you're utilizing temp. agencies in your search, don't just use one or two. Sign up for as many damn agencies as you can possibly get into. And be willing to take short-term assignments, especially now that it's summer and prime time for vacations and people to be popping out the babies. You never know when a place falls might fall in love with you and want make a permanent hire.
  
  
• And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send a thank you e-mail, note, letter after an interview. A formal letter or e-mail is best, just to reiterate elements of the interview (shows you were listening) and to highlight the reasons you think you'd be a good fit for the organization.

So there you go...a list of things that have worked for me consistently. When you're searching for a new position, whether you're still employed or not, going into it half-assed will get you know where but where you currently are (or maybe even several steps back from it).

Is this work and effort and a whole lot of time spent? You bet it is, but that shouldn't matter if you truly want to be employed.