There are many things you can do to enhance the success of your career search. One of the most important things to do is utilize all of the tools at your disposal. Not only will you need to be comfortable using career search websites, but you will also want to have your resume up-to-date and polished and have reliable references available.

A successful career search begins with the right resume. Resumes today focus less on work history and more on key skills, with just a synopsis of your work history at the bottom. If you have a bachelor’s degree or a more advanced degree, you should emphasize your education by placing it toward the top of your resume. If your education isn’t complete yet, or you don’t have a degree, you can either refrain from listing it or strategically place it toward the bottom. During the career search, it’s the package you present, not one individual part.

Another part of having the right resume for your career search is to make sure you’re taking the time to personalize the resume when you apply for careers. Many companies use computerized screening and you don’t make it through without having enough keywords. For a successful career search, you need to indicate both in your resume and in your cover letter that you have the skills they seek.

A cover letter is an absolute must for a successful career search. Not only does the cover letter allow you to summarize and highlight your skills, but it fleshes you out and separates you from the thousands of other applicants. The cover letter doesn’t need to be unnecessarily long, but be very sure that it is spelled correctly and has a formal look.

If you are still using the references you used from your first career search or if you have references listed whom you have not spoken to in some time, update your references! There is nothing that will end your career search faster than getting all the way to the point of having your references checked only to have non-working phone numbers or email addresses listed. Also, touch base with your references. As a courtesy, let them know you are conducting a career search and ask them if you can use them as a reference.

Not only will following these few simple ideas make your career search more successful, but by spending a little extra time preparing for your career search, you’ll reduce the amount of time you actually spend looking for a career!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under career search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.