Job Search Tips

Here are the steps we recommend you take to enhance your career search.

  • Search Agents
  • Compensation

Indeed

  • The world works electronically, so should you.  We advise that you set up a free account with Indeed.com.
  • Once your profile is established, you should create a search agent that will automatically pull in jobs that match the criteria of the position you are looking for. 
  • Use Boolean logic to create a search string derived from the key words on your resume.  Make sure you combine title, industry appropriate key words, and skills.
  • Here is an example for title:  ("manager" or " supervisor" or "leader" or "project manager")
  • Here is an example for industry: ("brokerage" or "trading" or "financial" or "banking")
  • Here is an example for skills: ("Tibco" or "messaging" or "C++" or "C#")
  • The main idea is to open the scope up so that Indeed can do its job and bring in positions matches that you would apply. 
  • Here's the catch, you'll know that you set up your Boolean logic correctly when your search yields jobs from all across the USA as a first step. The next step is to narrow your distance parameters to search for jobs within an acceptable commute distance agreeable to you, perhaps 30-40 miles from home.
PayScale
  • Compensation is everything. 
  • For people who are getting laid off or who already have been laid off the question is always...how low do I go compared to what I was earning?  For those who are gainfully employed but who have experienced lousy increases or bonuses the question is always...what am I worth?
  • We recommend setting up a free account with PayScale.com and entering in all of your relevant information especially as it relates to your current skills, this is the key.
  • Once you have a working PayScale.com account set up and you are happy with the profile information then you should enter into PayScale.com a 'mock' job offer.  Pick the same industry and use the same number of years of experience and skill level that you currently have set up in your profile.  Treat the new job offer you just set up (which is really just your existing job re-labeled) and run the program. 
  • The results will show  you how your current job compares to the new job you created thus giving you salary range for the work you are currently doing.  This is a very effective tool and, depending on the results, should be prepared to show it to your boss during a review or think about how much of a cut you should take when targeting a new role.