Jacob Share at JobMob shares some tips on using Twitter to organize job feeds.  This is a neat way to get job postings.  You can also follow funnelthru on twitterto get our feeds!

• Create an account on Twitter unless you have one already.
• Download and install a Twitter reader like TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop. Tweetdeck uses Groups and Seesmic Desktop has Userlists which allow you to organize Twitter users for easier following. Use this categorization feature to separate the Twitter job feeds from the other Twitter users you follow so that all your Twitter job search information is kept in one convenient place that isn’t overwhelmed by other tweets.
• If you know where you’d like to work, click the corresponding country flag [on his global directory] to jump down to a local Twitter job feed list and then begin following local feeds in your industry. Then scan the International section which lists Twitter job feeds that include job openings from 3 countries or more. Or you can jump directly to it by clicking the globe icon at the end of the row of flags.
• If you have a chosen industry and are open to moving for jobs, type CTRL+F in your browser to search this article for keywords related to your profession like ‘design’, ‘accounting’, ‘developer’, etc., and then follow the Twitter job feeds that are most relevant among the results, regardless of country.

Found via Cheezhead

Here are some great tips from jobmob, an Israeli job blog, when applying to jobs.  With funnelthru, we’re trying to put emphasis on the last point.  Everyone deserves an answer if they took the time to fill out an application.

1. READ THE AD.

Don’t just send out a resume because you are desperate. No one will hire you for a job you can’t do because you are hungry. Sorry.

2. Get the details right.

Sending resumes to the wrong person, with the wrong details, or calling someone on the phone if they ask for emails will not get you anywhere.
In the US, I would get 3-4 messages a week on my business answering machine from people applying to a placement agency, something that I was not. If I did call them back after a while, most people were actually mean to me, acting as if I had stolen their phone call from the people it should have gone to.

3. Make sure you can actually do the job.

Sounds obvious but it is not.

Just because you think it’s a job anyone can do, don’t insult the person looking to fill the job with that attitude. For example, not all women are maternal so don’t take a daycare job if you are not, and vice-versa with men.

4. Do some research.

Check the company website to be certain you can work in that field, in that location and at the times the job is open i.e. the work hours.

5. Make sure you understand what they want.

For example if you are a religious Jewish chef, don’t apply for a Saturday afternoon dishwashing job at Joe’s Pork Palace.

6. Understand the language requirements.

A PhD from the US or Russia won’t help if the job requires you to speak a language you can’t.

7. Don’t expect them to be flexible for you.

Unless you are the top person in a rare field, no one is going to go out of their way e.g. to rearrange their schedule for you.

If a job requires you to work on Friday mornings, don’t expect them to give you the day off. Or, in many cases I saw, religious Jews who wanted non-Jews to give them Shabbat off. A now-defunct call center tried that and ended up losing the contracts to the company that got the Friday night and Saturday contract.
This also applies to telecommuters. Friday is a work day in the US, and it’s Shabbat here in Israel in the evening when it’s still morning there. If your employer wants you to be available, it may not work out (to be polite). I had a job here where I was on call on Shabbat. Not for something basic like a computer crash, but a few times an alarm went off and I was called.  If you are not going to take the call, don’t even apply for the job.

8. Make sure they can read your resume.

If your resume comes in some obscure document format from software that no one has, it will be deleted without being opened. Do not rely on format over content.

In terms of being legible to begin with, someone I met in the technical writing business used to stick a resume up on the wall and see what it looked like from afar. Everyone else I’ve known read the content. If it was difficult to read, it wasn’t read.

9. Don’t expect an answer.

If you had so little consideration to apply for a job for which you were not really a viable candidate, don’t expect anything in return.

If you wasted someone’s time, sent your resume for a job you had no business applying for, then don’t feel bad if they make you spend an entire day traveling to an interview so that they could show you to their boss as a bad example and then hire their cousin.

Is Twitter the future of recruiting?  With this job market who the hell cares - take every possible opportunity to land yourself a job.  Susan Joyce from job-hunt.org shares a list of employers recruiting on Twitter:

This list is almost as interesting for who’s NOT on it at this point.  We have Burger King, but not McDonald’s.  We have PepsiCo, but only in the UK, and Coca-Cola not at all.  We have Microsoft (sort of) but not Oracle, Sybase, Adobe, etc.  We have IBM but not Dell or HP.  We have two accounts from MTV and one for Warner Brothers but nothing for Disney, Pixar, or any of the other studios.  Intel and EMC are the only manufacturers that made the list.

None of the big pharmaceutical companies are on this list either because I couldn’t find any of them, and, even though Best Buy has thousands of jobs posted on its Website (here), they are using Twitter only for marketing, so far.  No other large retailer showed up, either.

You’ll find the U.S. Department of State is the only branch of the U.S. Federal Government or ANY U.S.A. government entity, that is recruiting on Twitter.  I very recently discovered that the city of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, also recruits using Twitter.  Interesting…

Researching this list reminded me of slogging through the Fortune 500 ten years ago, looking for the large employers that were smart enough to (1) have a corporate Website with “current” content and (2) use their corporate Website for recruiting (and not hiding the job listings).  If I remember correctly, in 1999, only about 10% of them did that.  Closer to 95% do it now.  Wonder how long it will take the majority of them to adapt to Twitter for recruiting…

I’m not really convinced that Twitter is such a great recruiting tool.  Early on, when there were fewer users and less spam it was a very honest and direct way to engage with employers.  It seems that as more people join and more “How To Make Mad $$% With Twitter” instructional books come out Twitter might lose value as a recruitment tool.  We still believe that for entry level jobs a job board is one of the top tools to use. As long as all the positions listed are authentic, and are truly entry-level, applicants have complete freedom and flexibility and employers get applications in an organized way.

You graduated college without a job and are living at home.  You’ve probably spent 2 weeks at home peacefully before someone started asking you… “So what’s your job situation?”  Your parents are giving you a hard time with every passing day.   July 4th is quickly approaching and you’re dreading the various family events that will have you questioned by cousins, aunts, and uncles.   What do you do?  Heather Huhman from Entry Level Careers Examiner offers some suggestions.

1. Set weekly goals. All goals included in your plan should be measurable, meaning they should indicate specific actions you will take by certain dates. For example, your first week’s goal might be, “Identify and conduct in-depth research on two to four organizations at which I would like to work by Friday.”

2. Target specific organizations. As included in Step 1’s example, your focus should be on quality, not quantity. Particularly if you live in a small town, I always recommend including more than one geographic location in your search. I know, moving costs money, but cross that bridge when you get there.

3. Take careful notes. This job search plan should be fluid, changing as you expand your search. Under each organization you identified in Step 2, include important bullet points from your research that will be important to remember when applying for a position or meeting with a representative.

4. Boost your online presence. Do you have a professional, industry-focused blog? Are you heavily involved in LinkedIn groups related to your career path? Is your portfolio online? Are your social networking profiles “clean”?

5. Read industry publications and blogs. It’s important to keep up with the news and latest trends in your industry. This will provide great conversation topics as you meet new people.

6. Arrange informational interviews. While your first week should be mainly focused on identifying potential organizations and conducting extensive research, your second week should be spent arranging informational interviews with those organizations. (Read more about the informational interview process here.) Again, include the status of your outreach in your plan to show your folks.

7. Attend at least one networking event each week. It’s important to step away from your computer and get out of the house. There are always networking events taking place. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, your local professional association(s), your alumni association and the countless other resources. And of course, include the dates, times and descriptions in your plan. (Read more advice for attending networking events here.)

8. Don’t skip the job boards. While they are often massive and difficult to determine what’s a real job and what isn’t, don’t dismiss them entirely. I recommend spending approximately one hour each day applying for potential jobs, but no more than that because you do want to stay focused on your target organizations. Keep track of the positions for which you apply using services like JibberJobber or Becomed.com. In your written plan, simply include the position title, organization name and date applied. (funnelthru.com also tracks your job applications)

9. Follow-up and follow through. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you make a new networking contact, arrange to have breakfast or coffee with them and invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. For your parents, keep brief records of who you met and from what organization.

10. Provide an updated report weekly. At the end of each week, provide your parents with an updated report of your activities. Once they see the tremendous efforts you’re making to land a job, hopefully they will be more understanding and supportive of your situation.

To that list I’d add:

1. Exercise - Everyone needs to let off some steam
2. Help Around the House - Pitching in helps reduce everyone’s stress
3. Learn a Skill - You can’t job hunt all the time, so try to build a new skill or develop an existing one
4. Find Hourly Work - If possible, get a retail/sales job to bring in some cash while continuing your job search

Dealing with parents and family during this time will test your cool.  Try your best to keep things together while looking for a job.

Short article from fistfuloftalent.com referencing a recent WSJ article.  What’s interesting is that one thing they wouldn’t do is work for free or stay past 5pm.

Not working for free makes more sense than staying late - although it definitely depends on your situation.  In this economy working for free should be an option if there are other rewards (Potentially landing a job, great experience, fantastic connections, etc.).  Not wanting to stay past 5pm is just plain lazy.

The “InternQueen” (Lauren Berger) writes some advice for students looking for jobs/internships.  It comes off a bit condescending:

Maybe it’s the beer. Perhaps it’s the reality television. There is something so comforting to a college student living in the “college bubble.” Instead of proactively looking ahead into their future, they are staying in college for an extra semester or two.

However, her advice is worthwhile:

1. Start listening instead of changing the channel. As a young mind in today’s society. It’s important to clearly understand what is going on around you. The topic of the economy is something that is going to be brought up at meetings, interviews, and will be remembered ten years from now. Know what is going on. It’s your world.
2. Look in the mirror. This doesn’t mean check yourself out more than you normally do. Look in the mirror and identify what makes you unique. What makes you tick? What have you accomplished? Take a close look at your life and make a list of your passions and what drives you.
3. Self-Assess. There are some great new tools coming out that help you identify the careers that are best for you based on how you are wired and your personality traits. The best test that I’ve found is the YSN (Your Success Network) Career Assessment Test, http://www.ysn.com. Use this promo code: C0A3-3A52-A895.
4. Get An Internship. Once you narrow down the fields that you are interested in, get some experience. The best way to gain knowledge of an industry is to intern, intern, intern. Coming from the “Intern Queen,” I am a huge supporter of internships.
   An internship is a hands-on experience and 8 -10 week glimpse into what the real world is like. Interns get to observe, listen, and learn and have the opportunity to network, engage, and execute tasks.
5. Set Meetings With Role Models. Is there someone that you really look up to in your city/town? Someone that works in an industry you want to work in and really stands out? Research the company, locate their email address, and send them a note. Use the student card (while you are still a student). Request a meeting and tell them you’d like to hear how they got started and any advice they might have for you. There is nothing to lose.
6. APPLY EARLY. This is for jobs and internships. It’s a tough job market out there. Graduating in six months? Start applying for interviews and jobs now. Set general meetings with recruiters. Put yourself out there. Make them remember you. Apply early and be prepared for your future.

Nick Armstrong of Psychotic Resumes shares some thoughts on finding a mentor and how that can help you land a job.  In his definition, a good mentor:

• Is willing to share their time with you on a regular basis (or as often as possible)
• Does not try to sell you anything or try to use you as an unpaid intern
• Solicits your opinion and actually listens when you voice one
• Asks questions that make you think about things you care about
• Will introduce you to their contacts if the link will be beneficial
• Has just as much respect for your time as you do for theirs

Sadly - finding a good mentor who get you a job is harder than getting a job.

In this economy many college grads have moved back home.  That can only mean one thing - dealing with parents.  Entry Level Careers Examiner shares the advice of John Salveson and Sally Stetson, of the Salveson Stetson Group, on how to use your parents to your advantage when job hunting:

1. Visit your parents in the workplace. Go to work with your parents, and determine what you like and dislike about their jobs. Use that knowledge to help guide your own job search. From the office setting to the amount of social interaction, figure out what will make you happiest. Look for a job that suits your personality. Just because you do well in math classes doesn’t mean that you should be an accountant.
2. Think of yourself as a commodity. Parents are the toughest critics. Practice promoting yourself to them. Discuss your strengths and weaknesses and how you can best emphasize your skills. Don’t tell an employer what you want from them; tell them what they can gain by hiring you. Sell yourself.
3. Recognize the transition taking place. This can be a frustrating time for you and your parents, particularly if you have moved back home. Be patient, and know that looking for a job is a challenging, possibly long-term process. Use your parents as a support system, and understand that your job search is difficult for them, as well.
4. Get into the conversation—network. Finding a job is a contact sport; face-to-face interaction is crucial. While the Internet can help you research, it most likely will not get you a job. While your parents may not be able to find you a job, they can provide valuable contacts for you to meet with. Expect to network with at least 50 contacts. Remember to send thank you notes after every meeting, and stay in touch with your contacts. Maintaining relationships with your network will be beneficial throughout your career.
5. Utilize LinkedIn. The social networking site is a simple way to view and become familiar with your parents’ network of friends. Sign up together, and look for contacts that might be useful for you to connect with. Post your résumé, and join relevant groups to develop a network.
6. Create a contract with your parents. It is easy to lose motivation during this frustrating time. Sign a contract with your parents detailing the specific things that you will do during the job search, including factors such as how much time you will spend every week looking for a job. Additionally, promise to maintain a set routine for weekdays including waking up early in the mornings, dressing in business casual attire and limiting relaxation time in front of the television or computer. (Note: “Get into a healthy, work-minded routine” and “Calm your parents’ frustrations with your job search” might be good articles to read as an extension of this tip.)
7. Tell your parents how they can help you. Decide what role you want your parents to play in the job search process, and try to keep them informed of your progress. It can make your life easier to let them know how much you want them to be involved.
8. Set up a regular appointment with your parents. Choose a time on a weekly basis to meet with your parents to discuss your job search progress. Have an agreement that this is the only time that you will discuss the search with your parents. This will allow your parents to feel involved without becoming nags.
9. Prepare with your parents. Your parents have most likely been through the job search and interview process. They will have valuable tips and advice based on personal experience. Talk to them about their experiences. Practice mock interviews with your parents and draft answers to potential interview questions. Planning ahead of time can help you to control your nerves and remain confident.