Sunday, April 26, 2009
Joyce Lain Kennedy :: Townhall.com Columnist
Effective Ways to Use Online Job Search Tools
by Joyce Lain Kennedy
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GO VISUAL. A VisualCV is a terrific way to showcase your expertise and skills and enhance your traditional resume. It's simple and easy to create a VisualCV with just a few clicks of your mouse.

PROMOTE YOUR PROFILES. Once you've set up profiles on networking sites, cross-reference them, because you don't know who is going to find you on which site. If you're using Facebook for professional networking, link to your Facebook page from your LinkedIn profile and vice versa. Link to your VisualCV from your LinkedIn Profile, and so on. The more you cross-link, the more opportunities you have to promote your candidacy for employment.

USE WIDGETS. You can quickly and easily download applications that will bring job listings directly to you and that help you communicate faster with your contacts and prospective employers. Indeed.com has job search plug-ins for Firefox and for your Google Desktop, an application for Facebook, a button for your Google Toolbar, and other tools to expedite your job search. With SimplyHired's tools you can add job alerts to Facebook, and add a job search widget to your iGoogle homepage, your blog or your desktop.

STORE YOUR RESUME ONLINE. It's important to be able to access your resume from the Internet. You will be able to apply for jobs on short notice if you're traveling, for example, rather than having to wait until you get back to your desktop computer. You can use Google Docs to store your resume, or utilize ResumeBucket.com to upload or create a resume from scratch. You'll get a unique URL just for your resume, which you can update at any time directly from the Web.

GO MOBILE. Your cell phone is another useful tool for job searching. For example, Mashable.com lists 10 iPhone apps you can use to manage your job search on the go (http://mashable.com/2009/03/26/iphone-job-search-apps/), including CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, Craigster, JobFinder and iJobs.

DON'T COUNT ON IT. Even though the buzz is all about social media and new tools and techniques, don't rely on them to get you a job. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook can definitely enhance your job search, but don't count on online networking to get you a job. Continue to apply for jobs with a resume and customized cover letter, just as you have in the past. Traditional job searching and networking is still an effective way to get a job.

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About The Author

Joyce Lain Kennedy is a syndicated columnist focusing on business and career issues.

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