Best Job Search Tips – By Alison Doyle

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http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchtips/a/bestips.htm

Here are the best job search tips from career experts for job seekers who are starting a job search or who want to get their job search moving.

If there's anything on the list that you're not incorporating in your job search, consider giving it a try. Given the job market, it makes sense to include as many different job hunting initiatives as possible in your job search.

Do you have a job search strategy that worked really well for you? Add your job search tip to the list.

Best Job Search Tips

Use Your Cover Letter to Your Advantage. Your cover letter is particularly important. It's the job searcher's opportunity to help the potential employer see that the applicant's skills and experience match what the employer seeks. In the current economic climate, with the scarcity of jobs, a well-written cover letter distinguishes your application.
Susan Heathfield, About.com Guide to Human Resources

Get on Twitter. Use Twitter to demonstrate your professional expertise and draw the attention of people in your industry who will want to hire you. At the same time, actively reach out to those kinds of people by following and networking with industry recruiters and other insiders.
Jacob Share, Job Search Expert and creator of JobMob

Build or Enhance Your Personal Brand. My recommendation to all job seekers would be to focus on building, or enhancing, their personal brand. Attract potential employers to you rather than reaching out to them. That puts job seekers in a much better negotiating position that the reverse, even in a tough economy.
Susan Joyce, President and Editor/Publisher of Job-Hunt.org

Don't be Hunter... Become the Hunted. Hire a personal branding consultant to manage your professional identity such that you become a high priority target for headhunters, recruiters, and HR representatives. Don't fall prey to herd mentality and become just one of many who post resumes online and respond to cold ads. If you manage your personal brand properly you will develop a constant stream of inbound inquiries with regard to new opportunities.
Mike Myatt, CEO Coach, N2growth

Google Yourself. Put positive and branded professional content under your name and Google yourself everyday.
Maor Kaplanski, Personal eBrand & ORM expert, Israel

Start a Blog. It's a fact that companies and organizations are employing social media in the recruiting process, especially to reach their most elusive demographic - Generation Y. To stand out online, you're going to need more than a Facebook or LinkedIn account. So start a blog. Bloggers are the Internet's thought leaders. If you can establish yourself as an online authority in your field, you're a step ahead of other online candidates who are doing the bare minimum.
Ryan Paugh, cofounder, Brazen Careerist, Inc.

Think Outside and Inside the Box. Think outside and inside the Box (that computer screen in front of you, that is). In other words, you need to diversify the way you market yourself, whether it's online at job boards, or at social network sites like Twitter or LinkedIn; or offline at campus recruitment opportunities, job fairs, networking events in your field, or spreading the word to friends. The more ways in which you get the word out that you're looking, the more potential jobs you'll hear about.
Dawn Papandrea, managing editor of The CollegeBound Network, and blogger at CollegeSurfing.com/blog

Rely on Your Professional Network to try and get inside information for future openings or current openings. Of course if you have a LinkedIn profile you will want to ensure your profile is up-to-date and is robust, fully completed, and full of industry keywords that draw attention to your skills and accomplishments. Highlight areas where you can provide added value if you were to be hired.
Linda, Reeder, Training Specialist, LinkedIn

Create a Digital Resume . Hiring managers are looking for validation of skills. A digital resume allows you to incorporate rich-media portfolio items alongside more traditional, text-based resume content. In today's world it is a good idea to establish a professional online profile for consistent presentation of your personal brand that you can link to from anywhere you have a digital footprint - email signature, Facebook, LinkedIn, blog, company website bio, etc. At VisualCV.com you can build (for free) an online resume that you can have public or private that will help you stand out in your job search.
Pierce Resler, Director of Marketing, VisualCV

Use Keywords. Analyze job postings for keywords and incorporate them in your resume. Review at least 6 to 8 job postings in their field to find keywords that appear consistently in these postings. This gives job seekers a good idea of what skills hiring managers are looking for. These are also likely to be the keywords that hiring managers search for when going through their database of resumes. Incorporating these keywords into your resume increases the chances of your resume being seen by a hiring manager.
Cheryl Palmer, Certified Executive Career Coach, Call to Career

Give to Get. The karma of the job search says "What goes around, comes around." If you want to receive something, first you must give something. Freely give your time and talent to others. Give without expectation of getting anything back.
Terrence Seamon, Learning and Organization Development Consultant

Expand your Job Search Resources. Job boards and networks are fantastic - also contact your alumni office, placement office at your college/university, industry associations, professional organizations, read trade journals - all can be great resources for your job search.
Elaine Basham, Partner, The Resume Group

Stay Positive. While there may be times when the job search will leave you feeling frustrated, don't ever give in to negative feelings or let them derail you from your professional goals! The key is to be with someone who is going to reinforce your efforts and give you encouragement and suggestions. This is not the time to be around people who complain or who have a negative outlook.