The Internet and Your Career: The Internet as a source of job opportunities.

Increasingly, instead of searching for jobs in newspapers, we hunt on the Internet. It seems that this is now the best source of information about vacancies and it gives many opportunities. We can search pages with job postings, visit specialized forums, or explore career opportunities directly on the site of our perfect employer.

The keys to success are patience and perseverance. Keep in mind that job searching is not easy. You may have to spend several weeks searching for an interesting post, sending out your resume, and waiting for responses. The lack of response or a negative one may be daunting, but do not be discouraged. There are many offers and many opportunities, but you have to find them. According to the U. S. Department of Labor, the average unemployed person spends 18 minutes a day hunting for a job. To put it simply – it’s not enough! You may say that there are not enough job advertisements to spend the whole day searching, but there is more to looking for a job than just sending standard resumes to 3 or 4 prospective employers daily.

The Internet as a source of advice

You should not only search for vacancies but also constantly work on improving your resume and cover letter. After all, it’s not quantity, but quality that matters. You might benefit from advice posted on the Internet. Reading a blog like this will definitely do no harm. When it comes to writing a resume remember the following:

• grammar and spelling
• appropriate vocabulary
• readability
• attract the attention of the reader (avoid unnecessary facts and draw attention to what is relevant to the particular job listing)

Once you get invited for an interview, prepare as much as you can. Do not to blow the opportunity. Do some research to find information about the company. Visitthe official site and also search for news articles and opinions. Find a list of the most asked questions and practice your responses.

Show yourself

More and more people are using social networking sites. They are using them to gain new friends, new knowledge, and, increasingly, a new job (for example thanks to head hunters). Before an interview, recruiters often browse the Internet for additional information about a candidate. If you’re registered on social networking sites, there is a strong likelihood that your profile will be reviewed. If you want your presence on networking sites to work in your favor, follow these suggestions:

1. Fill in all the fields in your profile. This may require considerable time, but treat it as an investment in knowledge and contacts. Remember that if the portal has its own search engine, the recruiters and prospective employers will form queries with keywords. Make sure your profile appears in the search result pages for the keywords that are interesting to you. If you want your profile to work for you, do not hide information – show your strengths.

2. Don’t be boring. To shape a positive image, your profile has to be interesting. Write in the first person and write something more than standard formulas. You can add your motto, but preferably something more original than “Carpe diem!” Be creative – there is no need to be overly formal. After all, it’s not your official resume. Do not, however, exaggerate with jokes.

3. When describing your job experience, take time to explain what tasks you performed and what you learned. It may take some time, but this effort will be rewarded. If there is room, provide information on training and courses you have participated in.

4. Focus on one or two key specialties. Don’t try to prove that you are good at everything, because you won’t be perceived as an expert in anything.

5. Describe your hobbies. Show that you have passions and find time for what interests you. It will prove that you are able to manage your time.

If you take the time to provide a full and interesting profile, more and more people will visit it. Consequently, you will get more private messages from prospective business partners, recruiters, and corporate head hunters.

Hopefully this advice will be of help, and you will be able to make full use of online opportunities to find your perfect job. Good luck!

The post was contributed by PennySaverUSA. Visit us online to find jobs in USA.

For related articles about personal branding and job search, review these articles:

Personal Branding Interview: How Mark Cummata Got a Job Through Twitter

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Your Professional Brand Pre-During-Post Interview

The internet, being an extremely popular source, makes competition for getting that job highly competitive. Get started with your My Online Career Space and let that prospective employer know you are the primary candidate for them. With your own personalized career space you will rise above the rest of the job seekers on the internet.

If you would like to get up-to-date information, join us on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook and MySpace.

Preparing for an Assessment Center Interview

Due to the rising popularity of the assessment center interview methodology, the probability that you will have to participate in one during the recruitment process is increasing. If you are facing such an interview, there are some questions that you may ask yourself. Why is assessment center interviewing getting popular? How does it differ from an ordinary interview? How do I prepare for it? Let’s start from the beginning.

What is an assessment center?
An assessment center consists of a set of tasks and tests that enable standardized evaluation of behavior relevant to the critical competencies in the position sought by the applicants. It can be a part of the recruitment process, but it is also used to determine the strengths and weaknesses of current employees (for example, to identify the training needs or choose a person to be promoted).

Many employers decide to use an assessment center because it is more effective in assessing competencies than the standard interview, which is based mainly on declarations from the candidate. The recruiter has the difficult task of assessing strengths and weaknesses during a conversation. Obviously, every candidate focuses on prepared examples from his/her professional career that demonstrate competencies.

The assessment center in the recruitment process

The most common types of test given by assessment centers are leaderless group discussion on a job-related problem and role playing in a job-related situation. It enables them to assess leadership and communication skills, assess how the person interacts with others, and how he/she reacts to stress. The point of the assessment center is to avoid relying on a candidate’s declarations and to form opinions about the applicant on the basis of observations. The final judgment is based on remarks of several trained observers (at least as many as the number of tasks).

What can I expect?

What distinguishes assessment centers from a standard interview is the fact that you will not be the only participant and each session is prepared for six to eight candidates (not necessarily applying for the same position). You should expect that this meeting will last several hours. The detailed schedule is usually presented on the day of the interview. Apart from group discussions and role playing with other participants, you may also be asked to complete a psychological test and take part in a one-on-one interview.

Let’s prepare
While candidates are informed what the agenda of their interview will look like, they are not told in advance what tasks will be prepared and which skills are to be investigated. This is because recruiters want applicants to behave naturally, without ready scenarios. Nevertheless, you can make some preparations. First of all, learn how to combat stress. To be more confident on the day, make sure you are familiar with the job description and arrive on time. During the task focus on the instructions instead of trying to figure out what skills are being tested at the moment. Finally, because we are generally less afraid of what is familiar to us, try finding some accounts of people that have already participated in an assessment center interview.

The post was contributed by PennySaverUSA. Visit us online to find jobs in USA.

For related articles about resume and job search, review these articles:

Make Yourself (and Your Resume) Relevant

Job Specialization – Take a Second Look Before Taking Your First Step in Job Search

Online Job Search Quick Tips

Many positions, many resumes

The internet, being an extremely popular source, makes competition for getting that job highly competitive. Get started with your My Online Career Space and let that prospective employer know you are the primary candidate for them. With your own personalized career space you will rise above the rest of the job seekers on the internet.

If you would like to get up-to-date information, join us on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook and MySpace.