The 10 Best Strategies To Find A Job In 1996

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                               by Dave Dolak

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   Conducting a job search these days means entering a world of new and
   strange practices. The strategies outlined in this special report will
   help you find a job quickly. Of course, we can not guarantee that you
   will find a job quickly, but using these strategies greatly improves
   your chances of finding a suitable position.

   These strategies are intended to show you some unique ways to find a
   new job and hopefully they will also teach you something else - be
   creative and use all the resources available to you. A job search,
   perhaps this year more than ever, should be looked at as an all-out
   personal marketing campaign. You should look for new outlets to market
   yourself and find creative ways to let potential employers know that
   you are in the job market and that you are worth a look.

   Strategy #1: Network. There is little doubt that you have heard a lot
   about networking. Many people stress the importance of networking.
   However, many people approach networking the wrong way. Networking is
   not meeting new people and finding out what they can do for you.
   Networking is getting out into your professional and local community
   and meeting people to learn more about them. Networking is the best
   marketing tool around when it's done wisely, professionally, and
   appropriately.

   Since about 70% of all jobs today are obtained through networking, you
   should make up your mind to become an expert at it. In a nutshell,
   networking is enhancing the contacts you already have and working
   through those contacts to make new contacts. Talk to friends, business
   associates, former coworkers and others in your personal and
   professional life and make an effort to get caught up with them. Ask
   them for referrals. Find out what they want out of life and take an
   interest in them. Find out how you can help them achieve their goals.

   Treat networking like you are building a personal advisory board that
   covers all topics. When you are faced with a new challenge or an
   unfamiliar situation, you will already have the infrastructure in
   place to talk to someone in your network who is an expert in the
   field. That's what networking is. You are not just building a network
   to find a job, you are building a network to guarantee success in your
   new position. Your network will help you throughout your career and
   your life.

   Meet people. Ask them a lot of questions about themselves. Get people
   to open up and share their experiences with you. Forget about yourself
   and take an interest in them. Find out what they enjoy. Find out what
   their passions are. Effective networking cannot begin until you shift
   the focus from yourself to others. Sooner or later, the focus will be
   turned to you and you will be given the opportunity to share yourself
   and your situation with others. Give as much as you get. Help others
   achieve their goals. Always wait until somebody else asks you about
   yourself before you start talking about yourself. Once you explain who
   you are, what your interests are, and the fact that you are currently
   looking for a job, chances are that the people in your network will go
   out of their way to help you. More often times than not, if a person
   cannot offer direct assistance to you, they will give you valuable
   referrals to pursue. Follow up those referrals and keep in contact
   with everyone in your network. You will be overwhelmed with the
   results.

   Strategy #2: Go on informational interviews. An informational
   interview is different than a job interview. On a job interview, your
   goal is to gain employment. On an informational interview, your goal
   is to gain additional information about your chosen occupation. Ask
   people in your occupation if you may take 30 minutes of their time to
   talk to them about their business. Most people are willing to speak
   with you because there is nothing at stake and it is a non-threatening
   situation. Arrange a meeting and then keep the appointment and go meet
   them at their convenience.

   Once at the interview, you now have the perfect opportunity to find
   out what the person usually looks for in a job candidate. What
   qualifications do they usually seek? What does the job require? What
   backgrounds do their successful employees come from? What advice can
   they give you? How should you approach your job search toward others
   in their industry? The gems taken away from an informational interview
   are priceless. You will be surprised to find out what employers are
   looking for in a job candidate. There is no better way to find out
   what potential employers are looking for than to ask them.

   Strategy #3: Have a great resume and carry copies of it with you
   everywhere you go. You should have a top-rate resume and carry it with
   you at all times. Period. Don't ever think having a resume that is
   "just OK" is good enough to get you an interview so you can then
   really impress the person. The odds are that you will never get the
   chance to talk to a potential employer if your resume does not impress
   them enough to invite you to an interview.

   Take the time to have a resume that accurately reflects the person
   that you are. A mediocre resume reflects a mediocre person. Your
   resume needs to concisely communicate your skills and abilities and
   convince the employer that you would be an asset t their organization.

   Have your resume professionally written. If you absolutely cannot have
   a professionally crafted resume, read books on resume writing and take
   the time to develop a winning resume. It won't be easy, but every hour
   you spend creating a top-notch resume will take days or weeks off your
   total job-search time.

   Strategy #4: Use JIST cards.

   What is a JIST card? A JIST card is a cross between a business card
   and a resume. A JIST card is a 3"x5" card that lists your name,
   telephone number, a summary of job-related skills, experience,
   training, education, and any special traits that are important for a
   potential employer to know about.

   Below is an example of a JIST card:

     _________________________________________________________________

                                John Zahors

   Home: (201)555-8201 Message: (201)555-7890

   Desired Position: Computer Programmer

   Knowledge/Skills: Four years experience writing and debugging programs
   in COBOL, FORTRAN, and BASIC. I have designed homepages for the World
   Wide Web and am familiar with a broad array of mainframe systems.
   Excellent troubleshooting skills, especially when working on IBM, HP,
   and VAX computers.

   * Self-motivated * Dependable * Hard Working
     _________________________________________________________________

   Now that you know what a JIST card is, you may be wondering how to use
   one. A JIST card should be given to friends, family, relatives, and
   past associates. In fact, give these people a number of your JIST
   cards to hand out to others. Attach them to job applications, enclose
   them in Thank-you notes, and hand them out discreetly at networking
   affairs. JIST cards make a favorable impression on people. The use of
   JIST cards is so overlooked by most job hunters that you will almost
   certainly stand out and make a positive impression on the person who
   reads it.

   Make your JIST cards approximately 3"x5" on off-white or light blue
   card stock. Use black ink since colored inks will cost more money. Set
   up your master so that 3-5 cards can be printed on a single sheet of
   card stock and cut them out later. If you need to, have a desk top
   publisher set up the master for you and then have a couple hundred
   printed. The minimal investment you make is well worth the results you
   will see.

   Strategy #5: Perform a self-assessment. Sit down and make a list of
   everything you have to offer an employer. Perform a personal audit to
   identify your skills, abilities, knowledge, and work experience that
   will enable you to make a strong contribution to an organization.
   Perform this self-assessment before you write your resume or start
   your job search. Be realistic. If a job search is really a selling
   campaign in which you hope to ultimately sell yourself, doesn't it
   make sense to have a complete understanding of the product? Ask your
   family, friends and coworkers what they see as your strengths. Be
   prepared for open and honest responses and ask for them. Your friends
   and former coworkers may identify qualities about you that you were
   unaware of. Once you have compiled your list of attributes, organize
   the list into categories according to what particular functions those
   attributes allow you to excel at. Now you will have a clear
   understanding of who you are and what you are good at. You will be
   able to present these skills to a potential employer in a very
   organized and professional manner.

   Strategy #6: Post your resume on the Internet and use the electronic
   resources available to you. In today's modern work environment, more
   and more potential employers can be reached electronically through
   computers. Many companies use the electronic media to search for job
   candidates and advertise job openings. It would be impossible to list
   all of the resources available to you since by the time you read this
   report, many more electronic resources will be available. Surf the
   World Wide Web. Explore links that people and organizations are
   creating. Explore the electronic job listings. Post your resume
   on-line. Having your resume on-line means that your resume is
   available 24 hours a day. Employers will find you when they are
   looking.

   Following are a few electronic resources to get you started:

   The Finding A Job Electronically Page is reachable at:
   http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/swlodin/article.html. Here you will
   find information on how to post your resume to several resume
   databases regularly perused by headhunters, agencies, and employers.
   You will also find an excellent introduction to job searching on the
   Internet. Some other sites to check out include: Career Mosaic
   (http://www.careermosaic.com/cm/), The Monster Board
   http://www.monster.com), E-Span's Interactive Employment Network
   (http://www.espan.com), and the Online Career Center
   (http://www.occ.com/occ/). You should also stop by National Career
   Search's Career Magazine (http://www.careermag.com) where you can post
   your resume, search job openings, read related articles, and find
   products and services to help manage your career.

   For huge volumes of job listings organized by region and occupation
   try The Internet Job Information Center
   (http://www.aloha.com/-william/jnews.html).

   The Newsgroup Employment Listing page is reachable at:
   http:/www.ipa.com/ipa/newsgroups.html and includes links to hobs all
   over the country as well as a list of Usenet groups where you can post
   your resume. You can also try The Internet Job Locator at:
   http://www.joblocator.com/jobs/search.htm.

   A very useful and searchable database of classified help wanted ads
   from the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, San Jose
   Mercury News, and Washington Post can be found at Career Path
   (http://www.careerpath.com/index.html). You can search any individual
   paper or several at once. You can read ads for the current week as
   well as the preceding week.

   And, of course, if you would like additional information on job
   searches, resume writing, or other career-related topics, I would be
   amiss if I didn't direct you to the DMD Enterprises homepage at:
   http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dmdenterprises. At this
   site you will find hyper-links to all of the above sites plus many
   more so you can launch your on-line search easily.

   Strategy #7: Join professional associations. Find out what
   association(s) are connected with your occupation. Join the local
   chapter. Become involved in the association activities and explore the
   many resources that are available to you. Professional associations
   are one of the very best networking opportunities to make contacts
   within your field and meet people that share your interests. Use the
   directories to network with association members who may be able to
   help you in your job situation. Also, these associations will provide
   an excellent educational opportunity for you to learn more about your
   profession. If you are unsure how to find an association, ask others
   in your field or head to your local library and find the Encyclopedia
   of Associations (Gail Research, Inc., Detroit, MI). This lists over
   22,000 associations and is a great starting point.

   Strategy #8: Keep track of all contacts. If at all possible, maintain
   a computer database using contact management software. If this is not
   possible, keep written records. Make a list of potential employers.
   Keep track of every resume you send, every phone call you make, and
   the name and title of everyone you talk to. This will assist you in
   your follow-up work and will also serve as a history of your
   job-search efforts. All of the pertinent information will be in one
   place and you can access it quickly. Keep your records organized and
   review the information from time to time. Knowing what you've done can
   sometimes be the key to know what to do next. Also, keeping track of
   your efforts will allow you to monitor your progress and keep an
   organized schedule. Keep track of the number of calls you make,
   resumes you send, and new contacts you make. By doing this, you will
   soon be able to create a weekly plan of attack targeting a specific
   number of each of these activities to do for the upcoming week.

   Strategy #9: Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. Every contact you make
   should be followed up in some way. If you send a resume, follow up
   with a phone call in a week or so. If you are invited to an interview,
   send a Thank You letter afterwards. If you speak with a company
   representative, send a Thank You note (perhaps, include a JIST card!).
   Always follow-up your communications in some way. This will make you
   stand out in the employers' minds and they will notice. Thank You
   letters and cards can be very effective, yet many people do not take
   the time to send them. Those who do use them will be rewarded for
   doing so.

   Strategy #10: Keep a regular schedule and make time for recreational
   activities. Treat your job search as though it is a full time job in
   and of itself - because it is. Make a schedule and try to keep it.
   Organize your day so that it is structured. Getting into a routine is
   important when job hunting and this is a time when structure is all
   important in your life. Schedule hours to make phone calls every day
   and set a goal for the number of calls to make daily. Stick to the
   schedule. Make trips to the library at scheduled times and try to
   schedule networking appointments outside of regular work hours. Also,
   make time for your recreational activities. Stay involved in your
   hobbies and outside interests. These are very important activities to
   maintain during a job search. Get out and meet people who share
   similar interests. Make a plan to organize your time and then stick to
   the plan. It is very easy to lose focus during a job search. Keep a
   schedule and keep your focus.

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   About The Author

   Dave Dolak of DMD Enterprises is an expert at assisting candidates
   with their job searches. He is a former executive recruiter and now
   helps people on the "other" side of the recruiting desk. He has helped
   people from a wide cross-section of professions find jobs by offering
   resume writing services and job search skills coaching. He is author
   of many articles on career-related topics and continuously seeks to
   assist job searchers using modern day techniques and "non-traditional"
   methods. For additional information on DMD Enterprises, visit their
   web site at:
   http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dmdenterprises Copyright:
   1996, DMD Enterprises, re-printed with permission by DMD Enterprises.
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