Site FeedJob Search Tools and Resources Blog. Here you will find links to articles and job search related web sites, as well as tips on finding your next job. Be sure to also check out the job search support discussion group on Jobfiler.com.
Archives
11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003
12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003
01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004
02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004
03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004
04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004
05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004
06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004
07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004
09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004
11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004
12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003
12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003
01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004
02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004
03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004
04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004
05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004
06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004
07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004
09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004
11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004
12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
The Job Files
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Saturday, February 28, 2004
CareerJournal | How to Break Through The E-Mail Barrier
CareerJournal | How to Break Through The E-Mail Barrier: "news about e-mail and v-mail: With computers, you can send messages faster to more people, gather and distribute more information, learn about more open positions and get more visibility than job hunters of decades past. Resumes, letters, articles and 'collateral material' can be transmitted instantaneously. Numerous people can be copied on one note, which creates instant, ad hoc "
Friday, February 27, 2004
The End of the Road: Extra Unemployment Benefits Bill Fails in Senate
Yahoo! News - Extra Unemployment Benefits Lose in Senate
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Regional Resources: Denver, Colorado
Organizations, Group and ListServ-based Resources for Denver and Colorado
Rocky Mountain Internet User Group
CollectiveNet
Yahoo! Groups : nocojobs
Yahoo! Groups : denvermetrojobs
Yahoo! Groups : Colorado Art Jobs
Yahoo! Groups : Environmental Jobs
Yahoo! Groups : Denver_SQG_Jobs
Articles on Denver Job Market
DoubleClick expanding Thornton location
Raytheon plans to hire 150 locally
Job Sites
Colorado Jobs.com
CareersColorado.com by Jobing
State of Colorado Official Employment Website
Colorado State Job Announcements
Telecom Careers
Post-News Jobs - Denver, Colorado Job and Employment Classifieds
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Article on resume screening and other HR tricks
DEAR WW: A friend in human resources recently told me that most companies use computers to screen resumes. I thought people did that. What else don't I know about the hiring process, and what can I do to survive it? Read WORKING WOUNDED: Steering Toward a Job Offer(California Job Journal)
Monday, February 23, 2004
Who said a penny isn't worth much?
Since this site is for jobseekers, I thought it would be useful to point out some special deals when I come across them. For example, CompUSA
I'm in the process of putting together a web site which focuses on deals like this. It's not quite done yet, but you're welcome to visit and check out I-Bargains.com which is a collection of shopping resources, coupons and other specials. DealNews and Froogle are also good resources in this area.
Regional Resources: Philadelphia
JobCircle.com: Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Careers, Content, and Community for Philadelphia and surrounding areas
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Article: Bright job markets for grads may be slow in arriving
The Times-News Online -- Twin Falls, Idaho
Friday, February 20, 2004
IT permanent jobs saw steady growth in Q4 2003
IT permanent jobs saw steady growth in Q4 2003 - prosperity4
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Are Poor Writing Skills Holding Back Your Career?
Article has some excellent pointers, including:
The key to all good writing is rewriting. Write the first draft without fear, knowing that you can make any necessary changes on the next go round.
Use your own words. Don't puff up your writing with pompous language. Also avoid jargon. Good writing is creative, complete and concise - several steps above email without approaching the sentence structure of the tax code.
Know your audience. My primary audience is comprised of jobseekers. Who are you writing to? Your current or prospective boss? The board of directors? By imagining your audience as you write, your work will improve. What do they need to know? What will interest them? What will not?
Are Poor Writing Skills Holding Back Your Career? (California Job Journal)
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
4 Not So Obvious Things to do during your Job Search
The word is slowly spreading about Jobfiler. Here is an excerpt from 4 Not So Obvious Things to do during your Job Search - Job Search at BellaOnline:
Roberta Dulay of JobFiler.com has given me 4 important ideas that will
enhance [your] chances for success during [your] jobsearch. They are:
1. Follow up on any leads (say 3-4 weeks have passed and you want to re-contact employer to see the status of your job application).
2. Identify bogus job [postings/] boards (if you applied 2 months ago and never heard
back, see if the job was posted again .)
3. [Keep track of] the number of resumes sent and the responses.
4. Identify job boards that are effective for you, not only in terms of
identifying job leads, but also the response that you got from the lead .
Monday, February 16, 2004
Announcing the new Jobfiler Forums
We've decided to replace the Yahoo Groups! job search support group with a full featured forum/discussion board system directly on Jobfiler. You don't need to have a jobfiler account in order to join in. Click here to check out the new Jobfiler Forums.
Sunday, February 15, 2004
MSN Careers - 7 Tips On How To Handle Phone Interviews - Career Advice Article
MSN Careers - 7 Tips On How To Handle Phone Interviews - Career Advice Article
Do you have what it takes to start your own business?
MSNBC - Do you have what it takes to start your own business?: " work for your boss but reaping none of the financial benefits? Fed up with working 60 hours a week for someone else? Interested "
DallasNews.com | News for Dallas, Texas | JobCenter
DallasNews.com | News for Dallas, Texas | JobCenter
Dotcom Job Converter
I came across this and thought it was rather comical. In the post-dotcom era (aka dot-bust), you'd think they would offer the reverse converter so you could find your equivalent non-dotcom job title!
Monster.com: Dotcom Job Converter
Saturday, February 14, 2004
And you thought you had it bad...
In international news (South Africa ), 10,000 people rush for 300 jobs, causing injuries and mayhem.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Channel3000.com - Employment - Workers Get Creative With Excuses To Skip Work
Channel3000.com - Employment - Workers Get Creative With Excuses To Skip Work
How Employable Are You?
Check out this Employability Checkup on America's Career InfoNet - fill in the blanks and it will respond with an employment report for your area, industry and salary range. Nifty tool, and it's free.
JOBSCAMS: Buyer Beware!
There are basically two types of job scams you need to be aware of... ones that ask for your money and ones that ask for your personal information that may be used for other purposes (such as list-based marketing, or stealing your identity). To defend against the latter, be careful who you provide information to, and create alternative "throw-away" emails so you can see what happens with your data on various sites, and delete the account if it gets overly spammed. Also, there are certain things you should NEVER reveal, like your home address (use a PO Box), your Social Security Number (you would think that's obvious), and information relevant to your credit or finances.
Also, anytime someone is asking you to pay money for something related to your job search, stop and think... is this something that is worth $ to me? is this something I can get for free elsewhere? Is this a scam?
Be particularly careful of candidate-retained search firms, including Executive Search Firms that advertise in your local paper or online. See
Career Column: Beware 'Executive Marketing' Firms.
Here is a list of web sites with information and resources for protecting yourself from being scammed:
- JOBSCAMS: Companies That Prey Upon Jobseekers (Employment Scams)
- Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, Scams, Frauds
- About.com - Work at Home article
- Job Fraud: Tip-Offs to Rip-Offs (800 and 900 Numbers)
- Job Fraud: Bogus Employment Opportunities
- Scams & Schemes in Work and Employment Services: The Riley Guide
- HRS Phony Job Opportunities
- Federal and Postal Job Scams: Tip-offs to Rip-offs
- USPS on Work at Home Scams
- USPS on Multi-Level Marketing
- FTC's Campaign to Stamp Out Job Fraud
- How to Avoid Overseas Job Scams
- Rip-off Report.com - badbusinessbureau.com- searchable database of questionable companies
- Better Business Bureau - when in doubt, check out companies here
Additionally, here are some legitimate "Work at Home" resources, since that's one are where scam-meisters abound. If that's the area you're interested in, please do your homework to find legitimate opportunities here:
- Home Based Working Moms. Work At Home, Home Business Center
- Your Home-Based Career: A Key Resource Guide
- eMoonlighter
- Rent A Coder
If you know of any other good resources, please comment!
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Networking 101
Networking is an important part of your job search and continued professional development.
Here are some basic rules to follow when networking:
1. Join a number of professional organizations, both for your industry and field. If you're a woman (or wish you were) also look into organizations which promote women in your field.
2. Try to attend at least one function every week while you are actively job seeking.
3. Don't dump your networking groups the minute you get a job. It's impolite, for starters, and you never know when you will need to begin networking again. It's much simpler if you continue to network professionally all throughout your career, not just when you are in search of work.
4. Utilize online resources like LinkedIn , Meetup, Ryze, The Square, even newgroups and Yahoo Groups to make connections with others in your industry or field.
5. Arrive a few minutes early to networking functions, and take the opportunity to introduce yourself to a few people before they get started.
6. Exchange business cards and don't forget to follow up within a week after the meeting.
7. If you don't have a card, get one.
8. Practice your elevator pitch, and be prepared to give it on demand. Basically your pitch consists of who you are and what you have to offer. It may also include what type of opportunity you are looking for.
If you are a consultant or promoting your own business, a good guideline for developing your elevator pitch is to come up with 2-3 sentences, the first beginning with "Do you know how... ___________________________" and the
second beginning with "Well, what I do is...___________________________"
How you fill in the blanks is up to you.
ABCNEWS.com : Job Seekers Form Groups to Promote Selves
Here is a new way to join forces in the fight against unemployment. If anyone is interested in participating in such a venture, please speak up. If I can find enough participants, I would be happy to put together the infrastructure under jobfiler.
ABCNEWS.com : Job Seekers Form Groups to Promote Selves
Here's another metasearch tool
Metasearch can be a big time saver, by allowing you to search several job sites at once, then view the results for each source. All Job Searchwill use your keywords to search the big boys (Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder), and it goes one step further by adding other sources depending on your search criteria.
For example, are you looking for a programming jobs in your state? It will search the usual big sites plus sites specifically for programmers and sites specifically covering your region. It also pulls in results from newspaper classifieds and Internet newsgroups for your field or area.
My primary beef with the site is that it won't let you multi-select job fields, and it doesn't display your job search results directly, instead providing you with links which you click on individually for your results. Nonetheless, it's a free and somewhat useful tool which may assist in your job search.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Regional Resources: Pensacola (NW Florida )
"Job hunters say the search is hard."
I came across this article on the Pensacola Job Market, and decided to make the Pensacola area the next focal point for my Regional Resources series. Here are some job related web sites for this area:
- Pensacola, Florida, USA
- Official web site for the City of Pensacola
- Pensacola Jobs
- Bureau of Educator Recruitment and Professional Development
- News | PensacolaNewsJournal.com
- Pensacola Jobs | Pensacola Careers | Search Jobs in Pensacola, Florida
- Employment
- Find the Pensacola healthcare jobs you want and other healthcare jobs posted at CareerBuilder.com
- CareerBuilder - Be One
- FloridaJobNetwork.com
- Santa Rosa County - State of Florida
- Pensacola Area Job Opportunities
- Employment Helper - Pensacola Beach
If you have any resources to contribute to this section, please comment below.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Monday, February 09, 2004
Save Time using a Jobs MetaSearch Tool
Job Search web sites which offer the ability to search multiple databases / job boards at one time:
- Jobbank USA
- JobSearchWarehouse.com Job Search. Search 10 Search Engines!
- Staffing Links Meta Job Search Engine - Search Millions of Jobs
- CareerFish - Job Search
Software that manages your job search:
- Ultimate Spider - Job Search Software Engine - Find Jobs Before Your Competitors
- Your Job Searcher - Job Search Software program for your Employment and Career future
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Diary of a Job Search
The author of this blog has long since gone on to not only find a new job but also to publish a book by the same title. Here is the original
CareerJournal | Diary of a Job Search
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Smartmoney.com: Print: 10 Things Your Headhunter Won't Tell You
Here is an excellent article on SmartMoney.com about recruiters, and some things you should be aware of. Smartmoney.com: 10 Things Your Headhunter Won't Tell You
Friday, February 06, 2004
Do Cover Letters Really Matter?
Cover letters are an important part of your job search. Over 80 percent of recruiters surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management said cover letters are a "necessity." Doing a cover letter poorly, however, is worse than not doing one at all. A whopping 76 percent of recruiters surveyed said they would not consider applicants who had errors in their cover letters. How can you make sure your cover letter helps more than hurts? Follow these basic tips.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Staying Employed While You're Searching for a New Job
Everyone knows it's easier to find a job when you already have one. So, even if your job is a miserable one, plog away as long as you can while you're looking for something better.
Be smart about how you go about looking for a job, unless you really just don't care whether or not your current employer finds out.
1. If you are searching for jobs on the Internet from your work computer, do yourself a favor and keep your activities private by using a free proxy service like The Cloak.
2. Don't use your work email account to send resumes from (I know this sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people do this!), and if you must give out a daytime number, use a cell phone or answering service.
3. Posting your resume online can be tricky, if you don't want your current employer to pull you up in a candidate search. It's much better to not post your resume publicly, and also be careful about sending in resumes to anonymous employers (yes, I've heard of people sending in resumes for their own jobs - it's not pretty!)
4. Track your job search using portable media, like Jobfiler, or a notebook you can carry with you. That way you don't have records on your work computer which indicate you've been searching.
5. Whatever else you do, don't publicly broadcast your job search in a Blog or Discussion Board posts, unless you are fully prepared for the consequences. People have been fired over less.
Good luck with your job search!
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
GMA's "Doggone Look-Alike Challenge"
Ok, so this has nothing to do with job hunting, but if you have a little time on your hands, and look like your pooch, why not enter this contest for your 15 minutes of fame?
ABCNEWS.com : Look Like Your Dog?
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Informational Interviewing
Following are some good REASONS TO CONDUCT INFORMATIONAL INTEVIEWS:
to explore careers and clarify your career goal
to discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
to expand your professional network
to build confidence for your job interviews
to access the most up-to-date career information
to identify your professional strengths and weaknesses
This article covers the How-To's of Informational Interviewing.
Monday, February 02, 2004
Running Short on Cash? Have a (virtual) garage sale!
After all, you have some time to clean out your closets and get your life in order. Sort through those old boxes and depending on what you've got, here are some ways to unload it for cash:
1. Clothing / Accessories
If it's rare, vintage or designer clothing in mint (or nearly mint) condition, eBay might be your anwer. You can check the potential market for your items by searching Completed Auctions for similar items. Some things that do well in this category include beaded sweaters from the 50's, anything vintage and in good condition, accesories (like handbags) and costume jewelry. If it's just regular clothing and not too out-of-date, try your local consignment shop, or used clothing boutiques that buy clothes outright. Children's clothing does particularly well on consignment, along with their toys, games, baby furniture, etc.
2. DVDs / CDs
EBay, again, or even better, I like Amazon Marketplace as they don't charge anything for you to list items (unless they sell), and it allows you to set your own price.
3. Books
Rare books - eBay
Other books - try your local used book store, or if they are fairly current, Amazon.
Half.com is also good for books as well as DVDs, CDs etc.
4. Video Games
Here, I find that Amazon is less risky than eBay since you set your own price. If you need cash in a hurry, you can also take video games to a game shop that accepts used games in trade or for cash.
5. Collectibles
eBay, all the way.
6. Large items, specialty items
If you want to sell your item locally, Craig's List is a good option. No fee to list or sell. The newspaper is retro but also effective.
7. Fine Jewelry
There are stores (besides pawn shops) that specialize in purchasing fine jewelry. Or, you can have it appraised then try selling it through the paper or on eBay (but only if you set a reserve price to ensure you don't end up getting ripped).
8. Build your own virtual yard sale web site and combine any of the above methods to bring people to your site. Get yourself a free merchant account on PayPal in order to be able to accept credit cards and PayPal payments in lieu of cash.
Related Links:
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Medzilla
Medzilla is an excellent resource for healthcare and science careers, and also has forums, job search articles and other resources.
Job Search Expenses Are Deductible
:// here is an article I came across in one of the job related resources I subscribe to.
"Insider Information: Good News! Job Search Expenses Are Deductible in the U.S."
By Harry Collias, H&R Block Tax Specialist
Expenses incurred in the course of searching for a new job can be a deduction against your taxable income.
The Internal Revenue Service has laid down some rules and erected at least one hurdle, but the deduction can make a difference in your final tax bill.
Many job seekers are unaware of this tax benefit; here's how you can take advantage of it.
First, the Rules:
You can deduct certain unreimbursed expenses you incur in looking for a new job, whether or not you are unemployed at the time of the job search, and whether or not you land a new job.
You cannot deduct job search expenses if:
You are looking for a job in a new occupation, or
There has been a substantial break between the ending of your last job and your looking for a new one, or
You are looking for a job for the first time.
If you pass the "cannot" rules, then you can deduct
Employment and outplacement agency fees.
Costs of typing, printing, and mailing copies of your resume.
Phone and fax expenses, including long distance calls to prospects.
Travel and transportation expenses if you have to travel outside your home territory to look for, or interview for, a job. The trip must be primarily to look for a job. The term "primarily" refers to the amount of personal activity on the trip compared to the amount of time you spend in looking for work. Even if you cannot justify deduction of travel expenses you can still deduct the expenses of looking for a job while in the area. If you drive you can deduct the standard mileage rate of 36 cents per mile.
Second, the hurdle:
Job search expenses are classified as "miscellaneous itemized deductions." This class of deductions (which include union dues, work clothes, and tax prep fees) is only deductible from your income if you itemize deductions and only to the extent that the total exceeds two percent of your adjusted gross income.
Third, some advice:
Keep detailed records of your expenses, in case of audit, and never include expenses for which you have been reimbursed by your prospective employer.
© Copyright 2004 Harry Collias. All rights reserved.
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Harry Collias is a tax specialist at H&R Block. His five-year second career at Block has followed a 25-year stint in management at Digital Equipment Corporation.
