Sunday, July 6, 2008

The Search Begins...

So, it's your first day of the job search. What should you do first?

You need to make sure that you keep focused in your job search. Know beforehand how wide your search will go, so that you do not become desperate and make poor choices in allocating your time.

Also, you may want to get a better idea of what you're looking for than a nebulous title such as "Marketing Manager". In what area? What type of company? Taking a moment at the beginning of your journey to figure out what you want will focus your search and save you time and effort down the road.

Go online to research as well, make a list of activities completed and stuff to do. Don't make it a huge undertaking, just a small notepad with a couple notes will help. This will help you to stay organized and not do the same thing twice. This way you will keep on track since you will have activities to complete that will help in your job search rather than wasting time aimlessly searching for hours because you don't know what to do.

After you've hit the major job search sites such as Monster.com, Jobster, or HotJobs, you may be hitting a snag in your search. If this happens, try looking at local professional organizations (the local Chamber of Commerce should be able to help you find them if you're having trouble). They should have websites with job boards, and may offer networking opportunities that will help in your job search. Here are some national professional sites that may help you to find their local chapters and get you started:

FINANCE:

Commercial Finance Association

Association for Financial Professionals

List of Various Other Finance Organizations


ACCOUNTING:

American Accounting Association


REAL ESTATE:

Mortgage Bankers Association


MARKETING:

American Marketing Association

American Advertising Federation

Ad 2

Public Relations Society of America


If you have other sites that would be helpful, go ahead and post them. I'll have some more tips up soon to make sure that your search keeps moving and stays focused. Good luck!

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