Job listings

Job listings are the easiest way to find out what companies are currently hiring and the specific fields they are hiring for. Several job boards like Monster.com provide thousands of job listings for interested job hunters. Job listings can also be found in newspapers and magazines and at career fairs and trade shows. The Department of Workforce Services also offers job listings to help individuals find a job to help them meet their financial needs.

How to Job Search
The internet is one of the best places to start looking for a job. With online job boards like Monster.com and Yahoo! HotJobs, it is easy to browse through hundreds of job listings. Even though you have access to hundreds of job listings, it is not exactly easy to find a job that is right for you. To start looking for job listings, you need to use the internet and some off-line tools.

The most common place to find a job locally is the classified ads of the Sunday newspapers. While using the classified ads can help you narrow down your job choices, it is hard to find a job that satisfies your specific needs and wants. Don't stop at the classified ads alone, go to the newspapers web site and browse the job listings. You should also target online journals and search for job listings in your industry and location. If you want to work for a specific employer, browse through their web site and look for their job listings. Most companies will have a separate corporate site where interested people can submit their application for employment and view the current job listings. Scanning the company web site can also help you locate the email address of the human resource director. This individual may be able to advise you of future job openings within the company. Most companies actually find 20% of their hires from use of their own web site. Online job boards like Yahoo! HotJobs and Monster.com only provide about 12% of the company hires.

One of the nice features about Yahoo! HotJobs and other online job boards is the ability to categorize the job listings. If you want to search for a career by location or by industry, you simply input this information and all the available job listings will pop up. Online versions of the newspaper also narrow down your job choices, allowing you to do a targeted search. Online job boards normally include keyword searching and provide you with results within seconds, instead of hours. The online job boards will reduce the amount of time you spend browsing through the job listings, however they do not always provide jobs that are specific for your needs.

Job listing services like the Department of Workforce services and Church job services normally help an individual do a targeted search. The targeted search will narrow down your options by industry, location, occupation, or groups of people. The Department of Workforce Services can also provide training classes to help you obtain all the necessary skills you need in order to apply for the job. Normally the public library will also include job listings and can help you find companies that are hiring in your area.

Contacting Employers
Instead of waiting for employers to ask you to post your resume, start finding them. By browsing through employer web sites, you will learn about the company and will be ready to pounce on the job when it becomes available. Instead of targeting general web sites, start looking for specific web sites that focus on your interests. Some people choose the web sites of companies because they are geographically close to their home. Others choose companies because they respect them in the industry. Decide which type of company you want to work for and start contacting those employers.

When you are browsing for a specific job, you are using web sites like Monster.com. When you are searching for a specific job, you are looking at company web sites and targeted online resources. Most job searches begin with some browsing; you are trying to decide what type of job you want. Once you have the type of job in mind, you start searching for the job. You will use specific keywords in your job searches and you will define the types of companies you are willing to work for.

One way to begin targeting companies is to read the online resource guides. Online resource guides will point you toward the career you want to create for yourself. Library web sites normally have online resource guides and they provide documents that are targeted toward specific topics or the industry. Search engines are useful, but they tend to provide too much information and it is easy to become overwhelmed. Search engines work the best when you have your specific job narrowed down to a few keywords. One of the reasons why Yahoo is a great web site to use for job searching is because they will provide listings from their specific sites, and then branch out to the rest of the internet. The information you receive is specific and doesn't provide as many generalized results as other web sites.

One of the best ways to look for an employer is to write down your obligations and needs. If you have young children, you should look for an employer that is family-friendly. Some companies offer daycare services or they are willing to offer flexible schedules to working parents. Start creating a list of the potential employers you want to work for and begin submitting your resume to the right person within the company.

Networking
Networking remains one of the best job searching tools. Networking is when you build alliances and contacts with others and you contact them when you are looking for a new job. These individuals will be able to move your resume to the top of the list because they know you and can put in a good word for you with the interviewer. Networking begins before you start looking for a job; it is being built from your family members, friends, and colleagues. 

Networking can be done at social events, trade meetings, home owners meetings, church, school, or practically anywhere you can think of. You can quickly become friends with people your children associate with and ask them about potential job openings. Networking remains the number one way to find a new job and most of the jobs are found before ever being advertised. In fact, 34% of new company hires are found from employee referrals. It is much easier for an interviewer to talk to someone that already knows about the company and has been recommended by another person within the company. Referrals are a great way to find a new job because the company already has your first reference, which saves them a lot of time from sorting your resume and calling your referrals.

Networking involves talking to people you already know and asking them to introduce you to people they know. For example, if you are a public relations specialist and you want to handle the PR for a hotel chain, you want to speak with the hotel director. If you do not know this person, you may be able to reach them through another person you do know within the company, like the lead architect. Networking works both ways, when your contact helps you find a new job, you in turn may have to help them find a new job later on.

Once you have gone through the different job listing sections, you need to write your resume and cover letter. The resume needs to be professional, clear, and concise. Most resumes are scanned into electronic databases, so it is important to use plain text so that it will not blur or smudge. Searching for a new job is a process; you should not expect to find your dream job within a few hours on the job listing sites. You will need to use a combination of several different efforts to find the right job.

For each job listing you respond to, the resume needs to be written toward that company. The resume and cover letter must clearly show the employer what skills you can bring to the company and help them progress. Networking meetings are a great place to meet potential employers. Always make sure you have a business card with you so you can hand it off to the people you meet. Even if you don't leave with a job offer, you have expanded your network and you may be able to find a job through one of your new contacts.

Job listings found online can be specific if you use the right keywords. Some individuals look for a job based on location only, if you are looking for a job based on location; consider the local newspaper for that area. For example, say you live in Maine, but you want to move to Denver, Colorado. To find a job in that area you should visit the web site of The Denver Post and other local newspaper sites that may be able to help you find your job.