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As most of us know, job hunting can be a very stressful—not to mention time-consuming—process. While searching for a new job can seem like a never-ending footpath through a forest of CVs and interviews, there are some simple ways you can improve your prospects and help speed along the job search. We’ve outlined tips and tricks you can take on board right now. These suggestions won’t take days or weeks; hopefully you can get through a few on this list—and improve your job prospects—within a few hours. Also on Mediabistro Why are you looking for a new job? “Why Are You Looking for a New Job?”: How to Answer This Interview Question John Tejada How I Turned a Passion for Video Into a Burgeoning Career 1. Clean Up Your Resume The first thing you need to concentrate on is your CV, as this is what employers see first. Most employers go through ten or more resumes a day, and research shows it takes someone only seconds to decide if a CV passes muster. Make sure yours stands out for the right reasons. Register Here and Submit Your CV Today! Take a look at your resume, and see whether or not it’s easy to digest. Have you used bullet points? Have you used headers? Is the information easy to navigate on the page? All of this matters, so be sure it looks tidy and professional. If you’d like your resume to stand out even more, consider getting the help of a pro. Mediabistro’s Career Services offer everything from a quick resume edit to several sessions of career counseling to tackle your CV, networking skills, career transition, and more. 2. Check Your Digital Footprint Clean up your digital footprint before you start applying for jobs because a lot of employers will research you online if you’ve passed the first CV hurdle. Set your social media profiles to private, and select reasonably sensible profile photographs (no drunken selfies, please). Facebook and Twitter actually have an option that lets you download every update you’ve ever posted into a single document, which is something you can then scan through and check for anything you might want to delete. It also goes without saying that you should Google your name and see what pops up. You’ll want to deal with anything questionable right away. If you haven’t done so already, hone your LinkedIn profile to make it a tool for landing you a job. Mediabistro’s quick course, Skills in 60: Create a Killer LinkedIn Profile, will help put you charge of your personal brand and turn your profile into a powerful job-searching network. 3. Clear Your Calendar Be willing to clear your calendar for potential job interviews. If you’re working full-time while looking for another job, then make sure your current employer either knows you’re looking (and can be flexible on taking interview time off work) or have a few vacation days saved up, so you can use them if any out-of-town interviews crop up. Get more information and tips to get Hired by clicking here. If you currently work in shifts, try to request a variety of hours to work throughout the week to free up some mornings and afternoons. You could easily miss your chance of nabbing a new job if you can’t make it to the actual interview. 4. Get Reading Brush up on your industry and all the currents news and announcements that might be making the rounds (be it content marketing’s latest challenges or how a particular agency is handling an audience that is increasingly ad-blocking happy). You’ll come across as informed and diligent, not to mention this knowledge makes for relevant small talk during an interview. It’ll also give you an edge over your competition. Great sources include blogs, news websites or trade magazines. Feedly is one powerful tool you can use that allows you to organize, read and share content from your favorite sites all in one place. 5. Be Thorough A lot of people think job hunting simply consists of emailing out a few resumes and hoping for the best. To optimize your job hunt, register your CV and details on relevant job sites—and set up daily email reminders for new job listings that are posted. This will ensure you don’t miss any golden opportunities. Let friends know you’re on the lookout, too. Sometimes it really is about who you know. Finally, create a list of the top 20 companies you’d prefer to work for, and email them—even if they don’t appear to be hiring. Sometimes a speculative application can be just as successful as one that comes from a job ad. Since the job marketer continues to get tougher, jobseekers need to evolve. Unless you really focus your energies in the right direction, you can never expect to achieve success with your career. You need to be smarter than ever, smart enough to beat out the competition. You need to use a well-planned job search strategy so that you can grab a job opportunity before anyone else does. If you think you’re not smart enough, this article is just for you. Given below are a couple of very valuable tips that you can follow to become a smarter jobseeker than anyone else. #1. Build Your Brand The very first thing that you need to focus on is start building your professional brand right away. The world has now become a global village, where it only takes a couple of minutes to connect with employers, hiring managers, and recruiting agencies. While spending time online (on popular social networking platforms), you need to project a unique professional image. Unless you build your own unique brand, you won’t be able to stand out. See more at Why Should You Care About Personal Branding? #2. Don’t Waste Time If you are unemployed, every single minute is valuable. In desperation to get a new job quickly, you can easily waste your time on things that are not important or won’t bring you any result. If you continue to apply to every job that you come across, you’re wasting your time. If you’re networking blindly, you’re wasting time. Likewise, there are multiple job search time wasters that you need to avoid. Further reading at The Secret to Focusing Your Job Search. #3. Get Active on LinkedIn You’re never a smart job seeker, if employers can’t find you on LinkedIn. Even after you’ve submitted your resume to an employer, they might just go and check out your profile on LinkedIn. Don’t just create your account on this professional network, but be more active to connect with influential people, industry experts and potential employers. See more at 10 LinkedIn Tips to Get You the Job. #4. Have a Flawless Resume Yes, your job resume should be completely free of errors. Don’t hesitate to have someone from outside critique your resume. Usually, people become blind to their own mistakes. If you want to create an eye-catching resume, you should always get it reviewed by multiple people who you trust. If you can’t do it on your own, it’s also advisable to work with a resume writing service. Check out the 4 Vital Resume Tips from the Career Pros. Get the industry based best advice and guidance to get Jobs. #5. Be a Good Researcher Research is not just an extremely essential aspect of business, it plays a vital role even when it comes to searching for jobs. Whether it’s about exploring different career possibilities or knowing the details of potential employers, you need to do a good amount of research to achieve success. See more at How To Prepare for Your Interview. #6. Use Relationships Using relationships in the right way can instantly boost your job search. If you want to evolve as a job seeker, you should always remember to expand your relationships or network of contacts. When someone else introduces you to a recruiting company, you’re already one step ahead of the competition. More at 7 Ways To Network Your Way to Your New Job. So, are you ready to be a smart jobseeker? Use the above-mentioned tips and see where it takes you. In fact, you’ll be surprised by the results you’ll get. Happy job searching! By now, you've probably learned that the traditional ways of job searching don't work anymore. A few years ago, you could put your resume up on multiple online job boards, and wait for the phone to ring. Those days are gone, and if you want to land your dream job, you have to be proactive. Here are five basic strategies to follow that will help your job search get better results: Scan Your Resume For 15 Seconds A young professional skims the top of her resume. Recruiters read hundreds of resumes on a daily basis. They only have time to skim the top of them, so if you don't give a clear message about what you can do for them, then it is not a good resume. Since this is the most important document in your career, you need to give it the attention it deserves. Give your resume a boost and check out Work It Daily's FREE Resume Guide. Focus On The High-Return Job Efforts Businesswoman makes a series of networking calls. Job boards have less than a 5% effectiveness rate while networking has over a 50% effectiveness rate. Start by selecting your bucket list of companies where you would love to work. Do a company search on LinkedIn and identify the decision makers and their staff. Then, see who you know who might know someone who can then make an introduction for you. Follow the company and connect with people on LinkedIn, join their groups and conversations, and comment on their blogs and become known. This is how you move from a passive wait for the right job to appear on the job boards to an active job seeker targeting the kinds of positions you really want. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Young professional works on optimizing her LinkedIn profile. If a recruiter was searching through LinkedIn to find people for the position you are seeking, would you show up? Try it and if you are not on the first or second page, go back to your profile and optimize it with the right keywords to get yourself a higher ranking. Review Your Online Presence Businessman does a Goggle search of himself. Many employers will Google your name to learn more about you. Make sure you look good on LinkedIn, review your activity on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and any other online accounts. Take down or change any comments that reflect poorly upon you. Use your own blog, online exchanges, and testimonials to showcase your professional knowledge. Here are the best tips and tricks on Job searching and career opportunities to get professional growth Your social media plays a huge role in the job search process. Create Measurable Goals Businesswoman goals over her job search goals for the day. Searching for a job is like any other project and you must stay disciplined, so set firm goals for yourself. For example, "I will make 10 networking calls and have two meetings per week." Make sure you are focusing on high-impact efforts like networking versus job board submissions. Keep a record of your efforts so if an employer calls, you can quickly determine when and how they were contacted. Need more job search tips? Check out Work It Daily's FREE Job Search Checklist. For more personalized help, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket! Keeping up with the things you need to do by maintaining a to-do list is a good idea for those who are job searching. It not only helps keep you on track, it reminds you of those things you need to do to make your search for a job a success. Diligence is the key to finding that perfect job. 1. Check for Jobs Each Morning First thing each morning, check the job listings. There are other people out there who would like to have the same jobs you apply for, and being among the first to apply can put you in a better position to get just the job you want. 2. Don’t Put Things Off When you see a job that interests you, send your resume and cover letter without putting it off. It is surprisingly easy to tell yourself that you will do it later and then forget about it. By the time you get around to applying, possibly days later, the job may be filled. 3. Follow Up on Applications If you haven’t heard back on job applications you have submitted, it is a good idea to wait a week and follow up. Sometimes, expressing further interest in a job can get you pushed up in the application process. If you receive a definitive no, you can remove that job from your list. Click Here For the Original Source 4. Use Technology to Stay Organized Utilize technology by using your cell phone or computer to stay organized with your job search. Making up a spreadsheet with dates and the ability to check off tasks when completed ensures that you are following up on schedule. In addition, it is easier to add on other job hunting tasks as they come up. 5. Learn New Skills Learning something new is always useful. Factor in a few hours a week to take a class, learn a new skill that relates to your dream job or catch up to date. The time spent doing this will be worthwhile as it shows employers that you take your skills seriously. 6. Research Your Job Niche New jobs pop up in industries that offer you the ability to apply your skills in new areas. Do research in your field to find new positions that you can enter. If taking a few courses helps you fit the job requirements, take night courses or online courses to expand your employability. 7. Work on Personal Paperwork Once a week, work on one of the documents you use to apply for a job. You can use this time to recheck your resume, cover letter or personal plan to market yourself. See where you can make improvements. Remember to personalize your applications by studying the company where you are applying, and use your assets and strengths to show how you would be a good match for the company team. 8. Customizing Job Applications One mistake job seekers sometimes make is sending out a general resume for every job application. Aiming your resume toward particular jobs helps because the hiring manager will know right away whether you are a good fit for the job. Instead of just listing your qualifications, also list what you did that was a benefit to the company. Working as a salesperson, for instance, list how you won a company award for the number of sales you made. 9. Do Volunteer Work Volunteer work looks good on a resume, whether it is coaching a group of children in soccer or volunteering at a local charity. Add this to your to-do list, and make time for it. It not only lets you make new contacts and help others but shows your potential employer that you have outside interests. Keeping on top of job applications with a job search site can help you find that perfect job more quickly. TheJobNetwork helps by letting you enter your qualifications and does the search for you. Sign up for our job match alert, and searches are done round the clock, sending you job notifications as soon as they pop up. By receiving job alerts that match your qualifications and job interests, you won’t miss any jobs for which you are qualified. In addition, it gives you the ability to search job sites yourself to be proactive.