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Using
Technology For A
Successful Work Search
Make
Your Computer Work for You
Use Internet
Resources
Schedule Your
Time
E-Mail Tips
Ways
to Apply For Job On-line
Formats of Electronic Resumes
Responding to Internet
Job Listings
One Resume, Four Versions
Make Your Computer Work for You
- Word process you resume and other employment
related correspondence
- Hone your skills-practice your typing, word
processing or presentation development skills
- Develop a web site and post your resume there
Use Internet
Resources
There are a number of helpful sites job seekers
can utilize--here are a few
-
www.webster.com Merriam-Webster On-line. Look up the meaning
of a word or access their thesaurus
-
online.onetcenter.org O*Net online is an occupational
information site that is helpful when writing your resume. Gives
general information about occupations along with descriptions of
common tasks
-
www.rileyguide.com The Riley guide is an on-line resource
for career related information
- www.jobcentral.com
With Job Central you can search jobs and post your resume--Job
Central is an extensive on-line career resource library where you
can find wage information and career information
- www.iowaworkforce.org links to statewide and local Labor
Market Information, jobs in Iowa, and jobs with the State of Iowa
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Schedule Your Time
- Use a calendar to track more than just your
interviews
- Many of the e-mail accounts you establish have
calendar features. Make the most of your calendar to plan your week.
- If you are unemployed, make getting employment
your full time job.
- Schedule your time and then follow the
schedule. For example, you can plan to fill out applications at
employer sites in the morning (keep in mind, you will probably not be
able to hit more than 3 in a 4 hour period of time).
- Schedule follow-ups including calls and
letters.
- Schedule internet work search time. Track any
"send-outs" you do. Note the company name, address, telephone number
and contact person.
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E-Mail Tips
- Set up a professional sounding e-mail address
using one of the free e-mail services
- Know your e-mail address
- Check your e-mail on a regular basis-if you are
a serious job seeker, this means at least 3 times a week
- E-mail your resume to yourself and to a friend
for review before sending it to employer
- If your e-mail is corny sounding, you may be
taken less seriously as an applicant. Avoid things that sound
unprofessional.
- Avoid using a friend or relative's e-mail
address. An e-mail account is easy to set up and there are a variety
of sites that offer free accounts. This way you can access the account
from various locations and don't have to depend on someone else for
access.
- Again, know your e-mail address and be sure you
note the password so you can remember it. Giving out an incorrect
e-mail address is like giving out an incorrect telephone number.
- Check your e-mail frequently. If an employer
left a message on your answering machine you would return it in a
timely manner. If you e-mail a resume to an employer, or complete an
application on-line, it is reasonable to assume the employer may try
to contact you through your e-mail address.
- You don't typically know what kind of software
programs a perspective employer has. You can copy and paste your
resume into your e-mail, or attach your resume to your e-mail. If an
employer specifies a format, try to send your resume in that format.
If there is no specified format, rich text or text formats work well.
Before you e-mail the resume, send it to yourself and to a friend.
Open it. Does everything still look as you intended?
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Ways
to Apply for Jobs On-line
- E-mail
- Electronic forms/Resume Builders
- Via the World Wide Web as a Web page
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Formats
of Electronic Resumes
The employer you are applying to determines how
you prepare your resume for electronic submission.
For electronic resumes there are three popular file formats, all coded
in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange): plain
text, rich text, and hypertext.
- Plain text: Advantages: it is the most
popular ASCII format, Microsoft Notepad is a common text editor
program, pc's, Macintoshes, UNIX Workstations and mainframe terminals
recognize these text files. Disadvantages: a plain text resume is just
that-plain--there is no formatting
- Rich text: Advantages: Rich text
provides formatting options that plain text doesn't, it is compatible
across word processors. Disadvantages: Destination computers may not
recognize a rich text file, rich text is not supported by some e-mail
editors and sending a rich text file in the body of an e-mail will
result in unreadable text.
- Hypertext: Advantages: You can publish
your resume directly to the world wide web and take advantage of HTML
tags used by search engines to index pages of information.
Disadvantages: You have to have a web browser, internet access, an
HTML converter application or knowledge of manual HTML, Web resume
must attract the interest of employers and recruiters on their own
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Responding to Internet Job Listings
-
Read the application instructions
and follow them.
-
Use the e-mail address from the ad
-
If a job code is specified in the
ad make sure and include it.
-
The employer may ask you to send
the resume as an attachment in a particular format- i.e. a Word
document.
-
Use the right Subject in the
Subject line-include the job title or job code cited in the ad.
-
Include a cover letter in the body
of the e-mail message. The cover letter introduces you and
encourages the reader to look at your resume. It should not be a
summary of your resume.
-
Make sure your resume is formatted
for e-mail. If you copy and paste your resume into the body of the
e-mail be sure it will look good in all e-mail systems. Shorter text
lines are important so that text doesn't wrap in funny places.
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One Resume,
Four Versions
Print Version: the "pretty" version you
print and mail or hand to contacts and interviewers.
- Contains all out formatting: bullets, italics,
bold
- Can be printed on plain or quality resume paper
Scannable Version: no fancy design
highlights, may have bulleted lists.
- Load the resume with keywords and change the
focus from action verbs to nouns
- Use simple formatting-no borders, lines,
special characters, bold, etc
- Print the resume in black ink on plain white
paper
- Use a common and clear font like Arial or Times
New Roman in a 12 pt size
- Don’t fax the resume if you know it is going to
be scanned
- E-mail your resume when possible to avoid
problems associated with scanned resumes
Plain Text Version: this version is ready
to copy and paste into on-line forms or post in on-line resume
databases. Advantages: you can spell check what goes into the resume
builder, you can easily build resumes into a number of sites by copy and
paste instead of having to type information in separately on each one.
- Open your resume
- Click on File in your toolbar and select "Save
As"
- Type in a new name for the document
- Under the title field is the Save As Type
pull-down menu-select Text Only (*.txt)
- Click Save to perform the conversion
- Open the newly saved file in Notepad
- Change font to Courier 12 pt
- Check keywords and adjust action verbs to nouns
where possible
- Delete references to "page two", "Continued" or
header information if you have two pages
- Make sure bullets converted to *'s and there is
a space between the bullet and text
- Use all CAPS sparingly to emphasize what you
want to stand out
- Rearrange and left align text as necessary
- Save any changes
- Copy and paste the plain text resume into the
online resume builder
E-mail Version: another plain text copy,
but formatted for the length of line restriction in e-mail. You
can save the print version of your resume as a Text Only document or
open the text only resume you created for resume builders in Notepad.
- Open your resume
- Click on File in your toolbar and select "Save
As"
- Type in a new name for the document
- Under the title field is the "Save As Type"
pull-down menu-select Text Only (*.txt)
Click Save to perform the conversion
- Open the file you just created using Notepad
- Check keywords and adjust action verbs to nouns
where possible
- Delete references to "page two", "Continued" or
header information if you have two pages
- Make sure bullets converted to *'s and there is
a space between the bullet and text
- Use all CAPS sparingly to emphasize what you
want to stand out
- Limit line length - change font to Courier 12
pt and margins to 1 inch on the left and 2.5 inch on the right
- Select Format, Word Wrap
- Rearrange and left align text as necessary
- Save changes with a new file name
You are ready to e-mail
- Select and copy the resume
- Launch your e-mail program and start a new
e-mail
- Paste your resume into the body of the e-mail
- Be sure to include a Cover Letter - Keep in
mind 60 lines of text online equal one "page" of text on paper
- Send a test copy of this e-mail to yourself and
to a friend who is using a different e-mail program before sending it
for the position
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