Job Search Engines - Find a new job today

Working through all the job search engines can be a fairly lengthy process if you don’t use a good system. This checklist will help you get more done in less time so you can find that great new job quicker than you would otherwise.

Step #1 Prepare for Submission

Different job search engines allow you to submit to them in different ways. Some let you upload your resume in MS word and other formats, some want you to copy and paste it, also the amount of details they require from you differ as well.

Step 1 is to prepare for them all by opening your MS Word (or other rich text version) resume and copying and pasting it into a plain text file like notepad. Now you have 2 versions ready to upload and/or copy and paste. When copying and pasting to the job search engines do it from the plain text version (notepad) not the rich text (word) version.

Step #2 Open a Designated Email Account

Before you can submit to the job search engines you have to sign up as a member. When I do this I have a special email account for job searching alone to keep all that info in one place.

I like to use a free web based email account I can keep tabs on wherever I am. To save time go to Yahoo Hotjobs (the first site to submit your resume to anyway) and create a designated job search email account. You can submit to Yahoo while you’re at it of you like because they let you upload your rich text resume which is nice and quick.

For the sake of creating an efficient system that lets you get more done in less time don’t do any more submitting until you’ve done step 3.

Step #4 Time Yourself and Focus

Assign yourself a set amount of time to this and nothing else – submissions only – no job searching that comes in step #6. It’s going to be very easy to get distracted and go off on tangents when you’re submitting to the job search engines.

Tell yourself now that for the next hour (I recommend hourly ‘shifts’ with regular breaks) you are just going to submit your resume that’s it. Take note of the time and set yourself a reminder or alarm.

Close down your email program and any other distractions – your designated email address is the only one you need pay any attention to for the next hour. Your aim is to just submit your resume to as many job search engines as you can in an hour – nothing else!

Step #5 – Get Submitting Starting With The Majors

Clock set? – email program closed? – RSS reader closed? – instant messenger closed? - anything else that can distract you from submitting your resume and nothing else all closed?

Now you’re ready to start submitting to the job search engines in the list on the left hand side of this page starting with the major players like Yahoo HotJobs, Monster, HotResumes.com and Employment911.

This can be a very time consuming process but with the prep work you’ve done it shouldn’t take as long as it would otherwise.

Some resume posting services claim they can save you up to 60 hours of data entry. As mentioned above you do need to be aware of some red flags – click here for more info on that.

Step #6 Search Individual Jobs With Targeted Resumes.

If you go through all the job search engines submitting then searching you won’t get very far through the list any time soon.

This is why you have to separate the submitting and the searching into different phases altogether. When your generic resume is posted to all the boards you can take your time searching for and modifying targeted resumes to the jobs that really push your buttons without having to worry about moving on to the next one to get your resume up.

Conclusion

Use this system and you will get more done in less time. The only quicker option is to outsource to resume posting services, but watch out for some red flags that can make your job search go horribly wrong.

Choosing the right job for you is a major life decision. There are so many job search engines out there so stay focused, don’t get overwhelmed and you’ll come out a winner.