Your job search business card

Looking for work, conducting a job search, is in fact a business in its own right. You are selling your services and looking for interviews.

Every business person and sales person has a business card. And when you are engaged in a job search you need to have a Job Search Business Card to hand out to everyone you meet so they know what you are selling. It is a micro resume.

Your Job Search Business Card should have the following information:

• Your name
• Your degrees and any certifications
• Keywords about your IT experience
• Your email address
• Your telephone number - it needs to have voice mail
• A link to your web based resume and profile

This is an especially useful tool to hand-out to all of your family and friends. Afterall you cannot really expect them to remember what your information technology skillset is. And give 5 or 10 copies. Ask them to hand them out to their friends. Build your network of people who know about you. If you are not sure about how to network for success then this ebook - The Last Guide To Networking You’ll Ever Need - may be for you.

Richard (Ric) Ward
IT Job Coach

Using a web based resume and personal profile

Every job seeker needs a web based resume.

A web based resume is a necessary tool in your job search toolbox in addition to your email ready resume and your print resume…and of course a text based resume for easy posting to job boards.

Publishing a resume on the Web is advantageous in a number of ways:

• Employers can access your resume 24 hours a day - 7 days a week.
• You can quickly refer a recruiter or potential employer to your web resume during an impromtu phone conversation.
• You can provide a link to your online resume on your job search business card.
• Web published resumes are readily found by employers using resume spider technology to find passive resumes
• A web based resume enables you to include links to work samples (written work, graphic design, other Web pages you’ve designed, photographs, reports, etc.) that can demonstrate your skills to employers.

Here is a sample of a web based resume and personal portfolio available at IT Headhunter.net and JobsWorkCareers.com.

Richard (Ric) Ward
IT Job Coach

The 11 basic components of your resume

Your resume is your story and your resume should effectively present present ALL of your career experience, education, training and most importantly your achievements in an easy to read format.

There are many opinions passed around about how long a resume should be, the information that shouldn’t be put in the resume, how many years back you should go when including jobs and so on.

All of these opinions are usually prefaced by "They say…".

I haven’t yet discovered who they are.

The basic components of a resume are:

1. Contact Information
    
2. Degrees, Diplomas & Certifications
    
3. Languages Spoken
    
4. Work Experience
    
5. Education
    
6. Professional/Technical Training
    
7. Awards & Prizes
    
8. Community & Volunteer Experience
    
9. Travel
    
10. Sports
     
11. Hobbies
     

In closing

Your resume is your story and should present your career experience, education, training and most importantly your achievements in an easy to read format. The length of your resume will be determined by your years of experience, not by an arbitrary one or two page limit.

Richard (Ric) Ward
IT Job Coach