Halleluiah! Best Time in Two Years to Land a Job

Finally! Some pretty good news for job seekers. 

• First-time unemployment claims dropped to a two-year low in early February.
• The US unemployment rate dropped sharply to 9 percent in January from 9.4 percent in December and more than 620,000 people found work.
• Hiring plans for US businesses are at the highest level since 1998, according to the National Association for Business Economics' January 2011 Survey. Specifically, 42 percent of respondents indicated their firms will be increasing employment, up from 39 percent last quarter and 29 percent in January 2010.

Halleluiah! I think this is probably the best time in more than two years to land a job. 

Does this mean you can send out a few resumes and sit back and wait for the phone to ring? Hardly! Hiring managers are still quite selective in choosing additions to staff and you have to be at the top of your game. 

Make sure you have the right tools for the job (search).

An Accomplishment-Based Resume

Think about your resume as a marketing piece – your high-end brochure. Far more than a chronological history of where you have worked, your resume must summarize your accomplishments and results. This document has to showcase how you will add value to the organization in two pages or less. 

To increase the chance that your resume stands-out from the competition, customize it for each opportunity, adding the key words the company used in their job posting and emphasizing what they’ve emphasized. Use a professional summary at the top, not an objective, to “billboard” your most marketable skills, knowledge and abilities. 

Customized Cover Letters

Less than half of applicants bother to include a cover letter with their resume. Of those that do send a cover letter, most recycle the same irrelevant, ho-hum letter. Take the time to write a brief, personalized letter to the hiring manager telling her exactly how you meet the company’s requirements. If the job calls for a Bachelor’s Degree, three years of experience and knowledge of SAP, tell them you have it very specifically. Don’t make them search for it on your resume because they might not have the time. 

A 100 Percent Complete LinkedIn Profile

As far as job search tools, your LinkedIn profile is as important to you as a hammer is to a carpenter. As the job market accelerates, more and more people tell me that they are being contacted by hiring managers and recruiters via LinkedIn.

You’re 40 times more likely to turn up in a search if your profile is 100% complete so be sure to follow their instructions, according to LinkedIn. As you write your profile, be honest, be yourself and use the key words you see in the job postings you’re most interested in. 

Professional Business Cards

Personally, I don’t know how you’d manage a job search without business cards. Since you’ll be networking your way to a new job, you’ll need a professional way to share your contact information when giving your resume isn’t quite appropriate. Design your cards online at www.vistaprint.com or visit in Lake Zurich. Don’t be cheap, opting for print at home cards or VistaPrint’s “free” cards.

The Handbill

The handbill is a one page summary you will use when networking. You’ll share this document with friends and colleagues to help them understand how they can best help you. Handbills often include these sections:

• Your Contact Information
• Professional Summary (usually copied from your resume)
• Career History (much abbreviated)
• Target Job Titles
• Target Company Attributes
• Target Company Names 

How will you use it? Imagine yourself reviewing this document with a networking colleague over coffee. After learning about your background, ideal job titles and target companies, you’ve educated your colleague. Don’t be surprised to get very helpful questions like, “Oh, I know someone who works at Company XYZ. Would it help if I introduced you?” or “I just heard about an opening for an HR Generalist, is that like an HR Manager?” 

With these tools, I think you’ll be prepared for success in this recovering labor market. 

Please let me know how your job search goes. I’d love to hear. 

Your Neighbor and Career Coach,

Christy Suerth