We've noticed recently on Twitter that a lot of people are talking about having been laid off over the past couple of months. TechCrunch reports that there have been almost 80,000 layoffs in the technology sector since August, and entire blogs have been started about web and tech people losing their jobs. But even with all that doom and gloom, many companies are still hiring. If you find yourself looking for work, or trying to find some freelance gigs on the side to supplement your income, here are some tips to help you stand out, stay organized, and ultimately land a job.
1. Get Your Resumé in Order
Your resumé is a record of your entire professional life condensed on a single page (or two). 95% of the time, it will be the second thing a potential employer will see (first is your cover letter, which we'll talk about next), so that makes it supremely important that everything is in order.
First and foremost, that means making sure your resumé is up-to-date. Double check that all of your contact information is correct, and that all of your prior work experience, including your most recent position, is accounted for. Try to emphasize the positions that best relate to the jobs you're most interested in finding, and remove the ones that don't relate, especially if your resumé is getting too long (a lot of HR people won't both with resumés over two pages in length).
Remember to give a brief synopsis of your responsibilities at each job because job titles don't mean much. A product manager at one company might do less than an assistant at another.
2. Never Reuse Cover Letters
The cover letter is the first thing a potential employer will see when you apply for a job. It will often determine if your resumé even gets looked at, so it is vitally important that you put proper time into crafting a good one.
Your cover letter is your chance to tie in the work experience detailed on your resumé to the actual job you're applying for. Go into detail about why your past experiences will help you excel at the position you're gunning to land.
You should always tailor your cover letter to the specific job you're applying for. You may not have to do a full rewrite each time, since you're likely to be applying to similar job opportunities, but you should never send out a form cover letter that's the same for every application.
3. Network (Offline)
Networking is essential to finding a new job. Neither of my last two jobs were advertised via traditional channels - I happened into them by meeting the right people, letting them know what I was good at, and making a positive impression.
You should set aside some time to become a regular at the local tech meetups (most cities have a few these days, even the smaller ones), join the local user groups about the technologies you're interested in - and present at them, and attend nearby conferences. For the unemployed, conferences can be an expense that's hard to justify, but if you can manage to afford the cheapest pass (the one that gets you into just the expo hall usually), you can meet some great people hanging around in the lobby and hallways.
4. Network (Online)
Remember that networking happens both offline and online.
Online it means developing and maintaining a network of active professional acquaintances on services like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, and making positive contributions to professional discussion communities like Hacker News and SitePoint Forums.
5. Start Blogging
Blogging is an excellent way to raise your visibility. Blog about the things you hope to be doing at your next job and start to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Along with all that networking you're doing, blogging will help raise your profile and could attract recruiters. It's never a bad thing when you apply for a job and the person on the other end reading your cover letter thinks, "Where have I heard this name before? … Oh right, he wrote that great article about unit testing!"
And who knows, blogging might even land you a job interview at Google.
6. Check Job Boards Often (Like, Right Now)
You'll never find a job if you don't actively look for them. Very rarely do jobs come to you - yeah, it happens sometimes, but it's the exception, not the rule. In October, we published a list of 20 job boards that can help you find a job in web development or a freelance gig. These are a great starting point, and while you're conducting your job search you should live on these sites.
Many of them offer RSS feeds of new jobs. Those RSS feeds are your new best friend. Subscribe to them all, set your RSS reader to check for updates as often as possible, and be the first to apply for new jobs and gigs as they go up. For sites that don't have any RSS feeds, don't be shy about using a service like Dapper to create your own. Staying on top of as many job opportunities as possible is essential to finding a new job - this is a marathon, not a sprint.
7. Know Your Price
Especially for freelancers, knowing your price is very important. It's not enough that you can beat the other guy to the pitch, you have to be able to quote fast as well. As more and more people are pushed out of work and into the job market, and less and less jobs are available to go around, competition is getting really stiff for each new open position. Being able to quote quickly and accurately will raise your chances of landing that consulting gig.
8. Don't Stop Learning
How many programming languages do you know? How good are you with CSS? Photoshop? Dreamweaver? Can you set up Apache in your sleep? That's not good enough. Someone else out ther knows more, and knows it all better. The job market is competitive and you shouldn't rest on your laurels and assume that what you know is enough to get by. Staying on the bleeding edge of web technology is a great way to set yourself apart from other job applicants, and honing your knowledge of your current skills is important to standing out in the crowd (also, why not blog about all the new things you're learning, so recruiters can bone up on what you're boning up on?).
You want to be the guy telling your potential next boss about new technologies even he hasn't heard of and why he should be using them. That's the sort of passion that will make an impression on employers.
9. Follow Up with Past Clients
A perhaps overlooked source of potential new jobs is past clients. Just because they haven't contacted you recently, doesn't necessarily mean there isn't work to be done. Be proactive and ping past clients about what you can do for them. If nothing else, it's a great way to reconnect with people that can act as potential references or talk you up to others in their industry that might be looking for help. Keep yourself on the radar screens of those who do the hiring and you'll be rewarded for the effort eventually.
Similarly, if you haven't heard back from them, it's a good idea to follow up on jobs you've applied for a week or two after emailing your application. Ask if they're starting interviews soon and reaffirm your interest in the open position. A well-timed follow up and move your resume to the top of the pile just as the employer is sorting through, and often times that sort of ambition will be looked upon favorably and rewarded. More than once in my past that type of follow up has led to an interview.
10. Keep it all Organized
Finding a new job rarely means just applying for a couple. I've read more stories than I care to count about people who had to apply for 15, 20, 40, or even more jobs before they landed just one interview. That shouldn't be discouraging - finding a new job is hard work and could take months - but it does illustrate why you need to be organized about your job hunt.
Applying for the same job twice, or accidentally addressing a cover letter to the wrong employer would be major faux pas that you definitely want to avoid. We recommend Happy Job Search, a application written by web developer Daniel Higginbotham after he found himself laid off from work twice in the span of three months.
Happy Job Search is a very simple application, but it's an exceptionally useful one. It lets you quickly log information about jobs that you come across in your search, and then keep track of the stage of your application - whether you've applied, heard back, have an interview scheduled, etc. When you're applying to tens of jobs each week and scanning hundreds of job ads, an organizational application like Happy Job Search could quickly become your new favorite piece of software.
As always, if you have any other advice for job seekers, please share in the comments!
過去幾個(gè)月來,我們注意到在twitter上很多人都在談?wù)摫唤夤偷氖虑椤echCrunch(注:一家評(píng)價(jià)新生公司,產(chǎn)品及網(wǎng)址的博客公司--英文維基http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TechCrunch)報(bào)導(dǎo)說自從8月起在技術(shù)部門有將近80000人被解雇,而整個(gè)博客里都開始充盈著網(wǎng)頁和技術(shù)人員失去工作的事。但即使有這樣的不幸與黑暗,許多公司仍然在招聘。如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在找工作,或者試著找一些自由職業(yè)來補(bǔ)充你的收入以使一切運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn),以下是些幫你脫穎而出的技巧,保持組織性,然后最終搞掂一個(gè)工作。
1.把你的簡(jiǎn)歷準(zhǔn)備得井然有序
你的簡(jiǎn)歷是一個(gè)把你的整個(gè)職業(yè)生涯都濃縮到一張(或兩張)紙上的記錄。95%的機(jī)會(huì),它會(huì)是一個(gè)潛在老板第二個(gè)會(huì)看的東西(第一個(gè)是你的求職信,我們會(huì)在下一步討論到), 所以讓它上面的一切(內(nèi)容)井然有序是至關(guān)重要的一點(diǎn)。
首先,最重要的是,那意味著確保你的簡(jiǎn)歷是及時(shí)更新的。重復(fù)檢查你所有聯(lián)系信息是否正確,還有你之前所有的工作經(jīng)歷,包括解釋清楚你最近的職位。試著強(qiáng)調(diào)那些你最感興趣最想找的工作與這些職位的緊密關(guān)聯(lián),然后去掉那些不關(guān)聯(lián)的,特別是如果你的簡(jiǎn)歷太長(zhǎng)的話(許多人力資源部門人員HR都不會(huì)理會(huì)長(zhǎng)度超過兩頁的簡(jiǎn)歷。)
記住寫出每個(gè)工作中關(guān)于你的職責(zé)的簡(jiǎn)單摘要,因?yàn)槁毼活^銜常常不代表什么。一個(gè)公司的產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理可能做的活還沒有另一個(gè)公司的助理做得多。
2.絕不重復(fù)使用求職信
求職信是當(dāng)你申請(qǐng)一份工作時(shí),一個(gè)潛在雇傭者最先看到的東西。它常常會(huì)讓人決定你的簡(jiǎn)歷是否值得看,所以花費(fèi)適量時(shí)間炮制一份好的求職信是極其重要的。
你的求職信是你將詳細(xì)列數(shù)在簡(jiǎn)歷上的工作經(jīng)歷關(guān)聯(lián)到你正申請(qǐng)的真實(shí)工作的機(jī)會(huì)。去詳細(xì)說明為什么你過去的經(jīng)驗(yàn)會(huì)幫助你勝任這個(gè)你準(zhǔn)備搞掂的職位。
你得總是為你申請(qǐng)的工作而度身打造(量體裁衣)你的求職信。你可能不必每次都全部重寫一遍,因?yàn)槟愫芸赡芸偸巧暾?qǐng)類似的工作機(jī)會(huì),但你絕不能每個(gè)申請(qǐng)都寄出一個(gè)相同的求職信模板。
3.(線下)交流
交流是找到一份新工作所必須的。我上兩份工作都不是通過傳統(tǒng)途徑打廣告出來的---我碰巧得到他們是因?yàn)橛龅搅苏_的人,讓他們知道我所擅長(zhǎng)的,并給出一個(gè)積極形象。
你應(yīng)該留點(diǎn)時(shí)間去成為當(dāng)?shù)丶夹g(shù)會(huì)議的一個(gè)常客(這些日子里許多城市都有些,甚至更小點(diǎn)的城市里),參加當(dāng)?shù)仃P(guān)于你感興趣的技術(shù)的用戶小組---給他們做演示,然后參加附近的會(huì)議。對(duì)沒有工作的人來說,會(huì)議是很難調(diào)整的一個(gè)費(fèi)用,但如果你能盡力負(fù)擔(dān)些最便宜的通行證(那些常常只能讓你進(jìn)展會(huì)大廳的那種),你可以遇見一些在大廳和走廊晃蕩的了不起人物。
4.(線上)交流
記住交流同時(shí)發(fā)生在網(wǎng)上和線下。
在線意味著與在諸如LinkedIn, Twitter, 和Facebook等服務(wù)器上活躍的職場(chǎng)熟人 發(fā)展并保持交流,在諸如 Hacker News 和 SitePoint Forums這樣的職業(yè)討論社區(qū)做出積極的貢獻(xiàn)。
5.開始寫博客
寫博是提高你曝光率的妙招。寫關(guān)于那些你下份工作希望做的事情,開始將你自己打造成你行業(yè)的專家。同你正在做的所有交流工作一起,寫博客會(huì)幫助提升你的形象,可能會(huì)吸引招聘者們。這將不會(huì)是個(gè)壞事---- 當(dāng)你申請(qǐng)一份工作時(shí),另一邊閱讀你求職信的那個(gè)人想著,"哎,我在那兒聽過這個(gè)名字來著?…哦,對(duì)了,他寫過那篇關(guān)于聯(lián)合測(cè)試?的好文章!"
而且,誰知道呢,寫博可能會(huì)讓你在google得到一個(gè)面試機(jī)會(huì)呢。
6.經(jīng)常上工作版塊(比如,現(xiàn)在。
如果你不努力尋找工作,你將永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)找到。極罕見的是工作自動(dòng)找上門---是的,有時(shí)也可能,但那是例外,而不是規(guī)律。在10月份時(shí),我們公布了一個(gè)有20個(gè)工作公告版塊的名單,可以幫助你們找到網(wǎng)頁制作或一份自由(打理?)撰稿的工作。這些都是一個(gè)很好的出發(fā)點(diǎn),而且當(dāng)你在找工作時(shí)你可以以這些網(wǎng)站為生。
許多這些網(wǎng)站都提供新工作的RSS 提要。這些RSS提要是你新的好朋友。把它們?nèi)坑嗛啠M可能多的設(shè)置你的RSS閱讀器來多檢查這些更新,一旦它們出現(xiàn),作第一個(gè)申請(qǐng)這些新工作或新兼職的人。對(duì)于沒有任何RSS提要的網(wǎng)站,別不好意思,去用個(gè)象Dapper的服務(wù)器來創(chuàng)建你自己的(RSS提要).保持多多申請(qǐng)工作機(jī)會(huì)對(duì)找份新工作是很重要的---這是場(chǎng)馬拉松,可不是次短跑。
7.清楚自己的身價(jià)
特別是對(duì)于自由撰稿人來說,知道自己的報(bào)價(jià)是很重要的。你能把別人擊敗還不夠,你還必須能夠快速地給出報(bào)價(jià)。當(dāng)越來越多的人被炒魷魚然后涌進(jìn)工作市場(chǎng)后,越來越少的工作變得可得,每個(gè)新的公開職位的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)正越演越烈。能夠準(zhǔn)確而快速地給出報(bào)價(jià)會(huì)提高你搞定那個(gè)咨詢兼職的概率。
8.學(xué)無止境
你知道多少種編程語言?你的CSS有多拿手?PS呢?還有Dreamweaver呢?你能閉著眼睛設(shè)立一個(gè)阿帕奇 Apache 嗎?都還不夠好。其他某些人知道得更多更好。找工作的市場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈,你不能坐吃山空(仰仗你的老本,榮譽(yù)),一廂情愿地認(rèn)為你知道的就足以讓你過關(guān)。掌握些網(wǎng)頁技術(shù)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)性新功能會(huì)讓你從其他求職者中脫穎而出,而磨練你現(xiàn)在技巧的知識(shí)也是鶴立雞群的重要手段(而且,為何不把你所學(xué)的所有新東西都寫進(jìn)博客呢,那樣招聘者們就會(huì)去鉆研你正鉆研的東西?)
你想要成為那個(gè)告訴你潛在的下任老板他都還沒聽過的新技術(shù)的那個(gè)人嗎?并告訴他為什么他得用它們。這就是會(huì)讓雇主們印象深刻的熱情類型。
9.追蹤過去的客戶
潛在新工作的一個(gè)可能被忽視的資源是過去的客戶。僅僅因?yàn)樗麄冏罱鼪]聯(lián)絡(luò)你,并不一定表示(他們)沒有需要做的工作。積極主動(dòng)地與老客戶聯(lián)系,了解你能為他們做些什么。如果什么也沒有,與那些在潛在會(huì)議中舉足輕重或者可以將你介紹給他們行業(yè)里可能會(huì)尋求幫助的別人的人重新取得聯(lián)系也是個(gè)好方法。將你自己放在那些雇人人員的雷達(dá)顯示屏中,你會(huì)最終因這努力而獲得好處的。
同樣的,如果你還沒從他們那兒得到反饋,那么接著寫電郵給你近一兩個(gè)星期申請(qǐng)的工作(招聘人員),也不失為一個(gè)好主意。詢問他們近期是否會(huì)開始面試,然后重申你對(duì)這個(gè)公開職位的興趣。正合時(shí)宜的追蹤和行動(dòng)會(huì)讓你的簡(jiǎn)歷在雇主整理文件時(shí)被放在最上面(優(yōu)先考慮),而且,這種雄心常常被看好并被獎(jiǎng)賞。我過去不止一次地用這種追蹤得到面試機(jī)會(huì)。
10.讓一切井井有條
找份新工作很少意味著申請(qǐng)些工作就了事了。我都不想數(shù)我讀到過多少人申請(qǐng)15,20,40甚至更多工作都沒搞定一個(gè)面試機(jī)會(huì)的故事了。那不該是讓人灰心的---找份新工作的確很難,而且曠日持久,常?赡軙(huì)長(zhǎng)達(dá)數(shù)月---但它也確實(shí)說明了為什么你需要讓你的求職變得又組織(井井有條).
兩次申請(qǐng)一份相同工作,或者不小心將一份求職信發(fā)給錯(cuò)誤的雇主是你絕對(duì)需要避免的重大失禮的地方。我們建議使用 Happy Job Search,一種由網(wǎng)頁開發(fā)人員丹尼爾。希金伯特姆Daniel Higginbotham在發(fā)現(xiàn)他三個(gè)月來被炒了兩次后寫出的應(yīng)用程序。
Happy Job Search是個(gè)非常簡(jiǎn)單的程序,但卻是個(gè)格外有用的。它使你快速錄入你搜索中找到的工作信息,然后記錄你的申請(qǐng)階段---是否已申請(qǐng),得到反饋,約好了面試時(shí)間等等。當(dāng)你每周申請(qǐng)數(shù)十個(gè)工作,瀏覽數(shù)百個(gè)工作廣告時(shí),一個(gè)像Happy Job Search這樣的組織管理程序就可以很快地成為你新的最喜歡的一塊軟件。
同往常一樣,如果你對(duì)求職者有其他的建議,請(qǐng)?jiān)谠u(píng)論里(寫出)共分享。