Today is my husband’s last day at his job. He is joining the 6.8 million people who are now jobless in America. When we received news that his job would be ending, we revisited what he would need for his job search. Here are some basic tools that you (and he) will need in your job search toolbox.
1.) 3 versions of your resume
You should have your resume in 3 different formats: text, Microsoft Word and PDF. Having these 3 satisfies most requirements that employers will ask for.
The text version can be used for companies that ask you to submit through their website. Pasting your resume from Word into the entry form on the website will cause the text to have strange formatting so you should have a text format to make it easier.
Word is still a very common version and many companies will request it. Depending on the recipient’s Word settings, your Word resume could break in the middle of the page, not align the same way, etc. For this reason, if PDF is given as an option, it’s preferable because you can predict the formatting better than with Word.
If you don’t have a way to create PDFs right now, download the PDF995 Printer Driver from pdf995.com. After you install it, you’ll have PDF995 listed in your list of printer options. Just choose it as the printer and it will create the PDF for you.
2.) Company research tools
Just because you’re out of a job doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be selective with the companies you are considering. Sites like glassdoor.com let you research the salaries and employee feedback of companies. Vault.com is similar though it is a paid service (though if you’re OK with being a little sneaky, you can use Google Search to look at some of the content. Just search “site:vault.com yourcompanyhere” without the quotes and then view the cached version of the site to see some information from vault.com).
3.) Social networking
Social networking has become such a buzz word (or maybe buzz phrase?) lately that it’s almost annoying. However, don’t underestimate its value in job searching.
Not having a profile on the social networking site LinkedIn is, for some employers, not only a major liability but a sign that the candidate is horribly out of touch. (Source)
If you want to stick to just professional social networking, setup a profile on LinkedIn. Take a bit of time to fill out your profile thoroughly, find people you’ve worked with and establish connections. Having your connections easy to find makes job searching much easier if you’re asking for a reference or need people to help you in your search. If you’re comfortable with branching out on social networking, search Twitter for jobs, setup a Facebook profile and/or establish a Google Profile.
4.) File for unemployment benefits
If you have been laid off/furloughed/let go/whatever-your-company-calls-it, be sure to file for unemployment when you are eligible to help take care of basic needs while you are in job searching mode. Many (probably all) states are getting back logged with unemployment claims so the sooner you can file, the better, as there may be a delay. Rules vary by state so be sure to search for the information for your state.
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