How to Prepare for Your Job Search West Lafayette IN

Steps

1. Check your voicemail message for how it sounds. Increase your chances of success while job hunting by making sure your voicemail message conveys a mature and professional personal image. Update it before you begin the job search and interview process to reflect what you would like a prospective employer to hear. Funny and wacky voicemail messages prevent employers from taking you seriously.
2. Keep your voicemail simple, concise and clear. Start with a greeting, state your first and last name and the phone number clearly, say that the call is important to you and that you will get back to the caller as soon as possible. End with a heartfelt "thank you." 
3. Make sure your email address presents a mature and professional image. Asking potential employers to contact you at an email address such as partyanimal@... will result in giving a negative message about who you are. Although funny and casual email addresses are quite acceptable in a social context they can create the wrong perception in a business or work context.
4. Avoid a bad impression by a strange email address by creating a second email address that you use during your job search. Refer to this email on your resume, job applications and in any job interview follow up. Keep it simple - your name such as joesmith@...is often the safest bet.
5. Check your social networking profile. A recent survey of Human Resource professionals found that 20 percent of employers have used social networking sites to conduct checks on job candidates. 
6. Be aware that employers are using social networks to provide background information on job candidates--whether you consider it a violation of your privacy or not. Your job interview preparation should take this into consideration and allow for the possibility that anyone is able to read what you post online. 
7. Avoid detailing undesirable personal habits which may be major areas of concern for employers if you have posted stories about drinking and inappropriate behavior, discriminatory remarks about race, religion or gender, criticizing former employers or colleagues and provocative and inappropriate photos. Other issues include poor grammar and spelling indicative of poor communication skills. 
8. Keep privacy in mind because the details you post on your social network site can damage your chances of employability. Ensuring that your public online image highlights your better qualities is a good idea--and be sure to behave online the same as you would behave in any other public place.

Tips

• Keep your reputation up to par; be wise and increase your chances of job search success.

Sources and Citations

• http://www.best-job-interview.com - Original source of this article. Shared with permission.

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