Sending CVs via email isn’t just a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity!

When it comes to job-searching, the Internet has become one of the easiest ways to contact employers, companies, post CVs or even set online interviews with your future boss. Follow these key tips on looking for a job online.

COVER LETTERS

Applicants rarely give thought to covering letters anymore. “Please find my CV attached” isn’t a convincing enough reason for the employer to consider you. The cover letter is your first sales pitch to a potential employer and a good one introduces you and explains why you’re one of the best candidates for the job.

YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

Set up an email address just for job searching. Have a “normal” e-mail name, NOT blondie@aol.com or hotstud@yahoo.com. You may very well be these things, but keep these email addresses for your personal use.

KEEP A JOB-TRACKING SHEET

Create a file with every job application. This includes everything from printing out the job advertisement and your application to taking note of the day you applied, etc. Keep notes of all phone calls and correspondence as well as your research.

USE KEYWORDS

Employers search CV databases using keywords: nouns and phrases that highlight technical and professional areas of expertise, industry-related jargon and other distinctive features about your work history. Applicant-tracking systems rank CVs by the number of keywords in them. So if a company is looking for an auditor with experience in Lotus 1-2-3, Excel and Peachtree First Accounting, it can rank CVs according to which ones include all three programs, which have two and so on.

Someone looking for a job as an executive secretary, for example, might also include “administrative assistant” or “office manager” in the keywords section. Consider “Supervised several staff” or “Manager of several staff”. Manager will stand out, where as supervised might be skipped over.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

While graphics, tables, charts and other embedded things might make paper CVs stand out, they do the opposite to online CVs.

FOLLOW-UP

If you think that mass emailing your CV will be enough to get you hired, think again. Recruiters are inundated with CVs and don’t have time to pursue a candidate who doesn’t follow up with a phone call or even another, more personal email. One week later is a reasonable time to follow-up and instead of demanding a response, remind the employer that you’re still interested and briefly highlight one or two qualifications.

Debbie O’Hallaran, Career Columnist
www.irishjobs.ie