Networking your resume

Later in this chapter, methods of actually getting your resume into the right hands are explored. These methods include responding to an ad, networking, and taking advantage of career-related websites. 

A friend, former business associate, or network contact who currently works for (or is associated with) the company for which you want to work. If this person isn t responsible for the company s actually hiring, your cover letter should ask him or her to forward your resume package on your behalf to the appropriate person, along with their recommendation. 

Especially if you re trying to keep your job-search efforts a secret, it is not acceptable to use your company s computers or Internet access to create your resume or surf the Web in search of new jobs, especially during normal business hours. Whether or not the computer you use at work is connected to a network, your activities can easily and legally be monitored by an employer, and your job-search efforts may easily be discovered. 

To find additional online resources that can help you write your resume, find job opportunities, apply for jobs online, gather company or industry research, network with people in your field, or learn more about a specific profession, visit any of the popular Web search engines and choose keywords or search phrases you think will help you find the specific information for which you re looking. 

THE MOST EFFECTIVE tool in your job-acquisition kit is a professional resume that highlights your experience and accomplishments. You will want to give copies of your resume to contacts in your network, so that they can assess your skills and pass your information along to others. Even more to the point, you will need a resume and a well-written cover letter just to get a foot in the door for an interview. Your resume will be an interviewer s—or an employer s—first impression of you, and it will be the deciding factor in whether or not you get an interview. 

IN CHAPTER l,you learned how to build a network and use your resources to land an interview. By now, you ve probably seen several promising help-wanted ads, searched online career sites, visited your college career center, and done lots of networking. You ve undoubtedly sent many, many resumes and posted your resume online, as well. Hopefully, you ve landed af least one interview by now, and maybe many more. If you re still having trouble obtaining interviews, you might want to review the material in Chapter 1. 

It s not enough to post your job opening on a career site and expect the right candidates to come flooding through your door. You need to use a mix of tactics to be truly effective. Linkedln, essentially a social network site where people have their resumes up for everyone to view, is a great way to recruit the best of the best through your own network. 

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