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Subject:Job Search Strategies From:Mdjwrites -at- aol -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 03 Nov 2001 14:47:53 EST
I too am in the middle of a job search. Now, it is a little different for me, as I have just started technical writing after 10 years as a teacher, and I only have 3 mos exp. as a tech writer.
Signing up on job boards can't hurt. I am on quite a few. Ditto for sending out resumes, although I have kept my snail mail resumes to a relative minimum (maybe 15 in 3 weeks?). But statistics show that neither of these are very effective for gaining employment.(That having been said, I have my first interview of this job search this Tuesday as a result of a snail mail resume.)
According to Richard Bolles, author of _What Color is Your Parachute_, Networking -- contacting friends, associates, teachers, former employers, anyone -- letting them know you are looking for a job, and handing them a resume and/or business card -- has been proven to work statistically. (I got my first set of business cards last week...invest in marketing yourself.) Networking is how I got my first TW job.
I went to a meeting of my local STC chapter last May with a stack of resumes (I am going back there today), and just began telling my story and passing out resumes to anyone who looked positive and would take one. By "looking positive," there were more than a few souls there, many job searching like I was, who looked bitter, angry. You don't need those folks during a job search. You want to find optimistic, cheerful, hopeful people. If they have hope, if they see the economy as filled with possibilities, they are more likely to share those possibilities with others.
In the latest Bolles' interview that I am aware of, he says that the best advice he could offer to anyone looking for a job is to hit the pavement -- begin visiting local businesses and asking for a brochure, or something about their company. You are not trying to get a job, or even an interview. You are trying to get information, esp. the name of a contact. You might, at a later date, invite this person out for coffee or lunch. Again, you are trying to get information. That is your main goal. You are also enlarging your network. I am trying this approach now. FTR, I do not work for Richard Bolles, and I think a large part of _Parachute_ is needlessly complicated and silly. But I do think he has some insights into getting jobs.
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