35 Ways to Land a Job Online

By: Gina ImperatoTue Dec 18, 2007 at 11:54 PM

There's only one place to start your next job search - on the Web. Here's the ultimate guide to writing a great online resume, posting it on the best sites, and choosing the right job.

What Should Your Ré sumé Look Like?

5. It's not a ré sumé - - it's a movie trailer. Electronic ré sumé s do eventually get read by real human beings - on a computer screen. You have about 20 lines to grab their attention. So don't waste precious real estate on details such as your address. Lead with your technical skills and personal qualities. "Identify yourself as a solution to someone's problem," says Parker.

6. Break the one-page rule. Limiting your ré sumé to what will fit on a single piece of paper doesn't mean much in the online world. If you can hold your readers' attention, they'll keep scrolling. But don't overdo it: At some point, most executives do print out ré sumé s that they find interesting. The new rule of thumb, says Sue Nowacki, a professional ré sumé writer based in Gainesville, Florida, is to create an electronic ré sumé that can be printed in three pages.

7. One size doesn't fit all. Nowacki also argues that an online job search requires four different ré sumé s: a word-processor document, an ASCII text-only file, an HTML-coded file, and a hard copy. The word-processor document can be printed, stored in an online database, or sent as an email attachment but see point 11 . The ASCII file is what you submit to job-related Web sites. An HTML-coded ré sumé can be posted as a Web page or submitted to job boards. And you still need a hard copy, printed on high-quality paper, for companies that use snail mail.

"How many fishermen do you know," Nowacki asks, "who have one lure in their tackle box, or use the same bait every time?"

What Are the New Do's and Don'ts?

You've created a ré sumé with killer content and a cool design. You've got multiple electronic versions of it. What's left? Doing the little things right.

8. Not all text is created equal. Scanners work well with these typefaces: Helvetica, Courier, Futura, Optima, Palatino, New Century Schoolbook, and Times. And they work best with type sizes in the 10- to 14-point range.

9. Faxes are fine. If you're asked to fax your ré sumé , set the machine to the "fine" mode. That results in a higher-quality printout on the receiving end.

10. Don't send your ré sumé as an attachment. Paste it into the body of an email message. Most employers ignore attachments. They worry about viruses, and they don't want to waste time with files that their computers can't translate.

11. Always include a subject line. If you're responding to a specific posting, put the reference number in the subject line. If you're submitting a ré sumé to a database, include a description of your skills in the subject line. "Sell yourself!" says Joyce Lain Kennedy, coauthor of Electronic Resume Revolution John Wiley & Sons, 1995 . "It's not a subject line. It's a theater marquee."

12. Ask the wizard. These days, most word-processing programs come with good ré sumé templates and with "wizards" - step-by-step guides that walk you through the templates. If you're looking for a real wizard, visit the Professional Association of Ré sumé Writers www.parw.com .

Help Wanted - 11 Places to Start Your Search

We've spent time on 11 of the most popular career-related sites. This table evaluates how they work and how well they deliver in certain key areas: Do they offer a "personal search agent" - that is, software that can search for you? Do they help keep news of your search away from your current employer? And what's the "killer app" that distinguishes them from other services?

site	description	resume removed after	personal search agent?	can it keep a secret?	killer app
The Monster Board www.monster.com	Resume City, the site's job bank, posts more than 25,000 openings and more than 300,000 resumes. It is a monster.	One year. Then the Monster Board asks for an update.	Yes.	Yes. A privacy feature lets you hide your name and contact information from employers. But unless you disguise the name of your current employer, that information will be visible.	Creative resources and events, such as weekly career fairs that feature companies from specific geographic areas or industries. Even the ads feature information about companies and their employment opportunities.
America's Job Bank www.ajb.dni.us	A government site. State agencies post an average of 5,000 new openings per day. Companies contribute another 3,000.	Sixty days, unless you update it.	No. But you can save your searches - which saves you time later.	There's no way to block your resume from employers.	Its powerful and easy-to-use search capabilities. Use any of three options: a keyword search, a menu search (which lets you choose from 22 job categories), or a military-code search.
Careerpath.com www.careerpath.com	Classifieds from more than 65 newspapers, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe.	Six months. But the site stores "inactive" resumes.	No.	Companies don't have direct access to the database. Staff specialists from CareerPath.com ask job seekers by email for permission to release resume information.	In some cases, you get a jump on the Sunday papers. Ads from the New York Times appear on Saturday afternoon. Plus, no more ink-stained fingers!
HotJobs.com www.hotjobs.com	A member-based site that charges companies a hefty fee to post openings or to search through resumes.	%0 9Never. But the site archives dormant resumes.	Yes.	You bet. HotJobs.com denies headhunters (notorious big mouths) access to resumes. The "HotBlock" feature lets users restrict certain companies from viewing their resume.	Job seekers can create a personal home page to manage their search. The page tracks all the jobs they've applied for and collects statistics on how many companies have retrieved their resume.
Online Career Center www.occ.com	A pioneer in online recruiting. OCC started in 1992 and moved to the Web in 1993.	One year - if you don't update your information in the meantime.	Yes.	OCC gives you the option of letting employers see only the body of your resume. OCC then sends you an email requesting permission to forward the full document.	The site's "search within a search" feature lets you narrow your search criteria, so you can find jobs that are right for you - and keep your sanity in the process.
NationJob network www.nationjob.com	More than 15,000 jobs nationwide, with an emphasis on those in the Midwest.	NA. Doesn't accept resumes for posting.	Yes. See below.	NA.	"P.J. Scout," the site's personal search agent, is the best out there. If it finds five matching jobs or fewer, it emails you the complete listings. If it finds more than five, it sends links to the postings.
Careermosaic www.careermosaic.com	More than 70,000 jobs, updated daily.	Your resume stays in the database until you remove it.	No.	No. Posting your resume here is like tacking it to a public bulletin board.	"Radius Search" locates jobs within a desired geographic range. Users enter a zip code and the number of miles away from that zip code that they are willing to travel, and Radius Search does the sorting.
4work www.4work.com	Specify the state you want to work in and your skill set, and 4Work emails you the appropriate postings.	NA. The site creates anonymous profiles that employers see.	Yes.	Yes. Except in the "Featured Job Seeker" section, which profiles four people each week (with their approval), the profiles are anonymous.	One of the few sites that includes listings of internships and volunteer opportunities.
America's Employers www.americasemployers.com	Maintained by career consultants. It offers several thousand updated listings, along with real-time seminars.	Your resume remains active until you say otherwise.	Yes.	It's in the vault! Users can block specific companies from viewing their resume.	The site's networking forums help you develop new contacts and job leads. There's even a chat room for online interviews.
E.span www.espan.com	Another pioneer in online employment services. Maybe that's why the site is so easy to navigate.	Six months, unless you update the resume before then.	Yes.	You can hide your name and contact information. E.span asks you for permission before it sends your resume to an interested company.	The site notifies you every week of job postings that match criteria that you specify. These notifications arrive via email, complete with links to job specs and company information.
The CareerBuilder network www.careerbuilder.com	This site focuses on the needs of companies rather than job seekers. But it does include a database of 20,000 openings.	NA. Doesn't post resumes.	Yes.	Sure. When you apply for a job through CareerBuilder, you send your resume directly to a company's hiring manager, and no one else sees it.	Don't want to use an email address from your current company? CareerBuilder, in cooperation with WhoWhere? (www.whowhere.com), will give you a special email account that you can access from the CareerBuilder site.