ONLINE JOB SEARCH GUIDE from Job-Hunt.Org
Forbes Magazine Best of the Web for Job Hunting, 2002

1. INSIDER INFORMATION #1 -10 Tips for Keeping Your Resume Out of the Spam Filters (with a Sliver Lining) by Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org
2. INSIDER INFORMATION #2 -The Holiday Job Search Advantages by Dr. Jan Cannon of the Cannon Career Center
3. NEW, NEWSWORTHY, and/or INTERESTING SITES: Online job listing used in an ID theft scam and more
4. Subscribing and Unsubscribing - Directions for unsubscribing from (or subscribing to) the ONLINE JOB SEARCH GUIDE

1. INSIDER INFORMATION - 10 Tips for Keeping Your Resume Out of the Sp*m Filters by Susan Joyce, Job-Hunt's Senior Job Hunter

The use of software "filters" to stop junk e-mail is growing, and these filters may be damaging your ability to send your resume or a job inquiry through e-mail. Your e-mail will never reach your intended recipient if it gets caught in a filter.

Even if someone is expecting to receive a message from you, these strategies for avoiding the filtering software traps should help. Note that if you are doing any one of these things, you should be OK, but doing several in the same message may get your message blocked.

1) Don't send a messaage to more than 10 or 20 addressees at one time. (Resumes are not good candidates for bulk e-mail, anyway.)

2) Don't send a message to "undisclosed recipients."

3) Don't change the content of the "from" field to something that will disagree with the contents of the real e-mail header (as you might if sending from work).

4) Don't use all capital letters in the subject, and don't put spaces between those letters if you MUST capitalize them >> B A D   I D E A

5) Keep your e-mail messages short, even the ones that include your ASCII text resume. Shoot for fewer than 1,000 words, including the cover "letter." [The message size that trigers filtering varies with the recipient and the filter being used, so this is a conservative guideline.]

6) Avoid using numbers in the subject of your message, particularly at the end of the line.

7) Try to avoid numbers in your e-mail address (like MSmith45792@whatever.com) if you can. If you can't avoid it, be very careful to avoid the other items in this list.

8) If you send your resume as an HTML e-mail, keep the background white and the letters black. (And, it probably won't print well, either, which makes it useless, even if it gets through the filters.)

9) Be careful throwing around large dollar amounts, as in, "increased sales by XX million dollars." Try to limit such references to no more than 1 or 2 times per message.

10) Watch your language! Think of the products and services most frequently offered by junk messages (e.g. a well-known drug for men, a word that starts with "f" and rhymes with "tree," etc.), and don't include those words in your messages no matter how appropriate. We haven't used those words here because we don't want this message caught in a filter, either!

Note: with MOST software filters, messages get stopped when they demonstrate several of these characteristics, not any single one. And, the trigers will change over time as spammers also change their tactics to beat the filters.

Bottom line - observe the common characteristics of the unsolicited commercial e-mail you receive, and do your best to avoid having your e-mail demonstrate thesame characteristics.

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2. INSIDER INFORMATION - The Holiday Job Search Advantages by Dr. Jan Cannon, founder of the Cannon Career Center, author of Finding Work in a Slow Economy

Contrary to common belief, searching for a job at the holidays is a good idea. Most businesses know their budgets for the coming year and can predict their hiring
needs.

Waiting until after the new year to start your job search may be too late. By February most positions will be filled.

In addition, during the holidays most people are in a "holiday mood" and, even if you're just looking for an information interview, in the spirit of giving, they'll generally be happy to talk with you.

One thing to note, however, is with office party schedules and many people taking time off for vacation, you will need to be persistent in your efforts to make appointments. Just keep trying. Leave friendly voicemail messages, and then follow up.

Networking is especially important in this economic climate, and what better way to network than at the holiday meals and parties that you'll be attending. Don't be pushy, but do mention the kind of work you're looking for with the folks you'll be seeing over a cup of eggnog or glass of wine. The more people who know you're looking for work, the more likely it is you'll find someone who knows someone, who knows someone... you get the idea.

Reach Dr. Cannon at the Cannon Career Center. Her book, Finding Work in a Slow Economy, is available the Cannon Career Center.

3. NEW, NEWSWORTHY, and/or INTERESTING SITES

NEWS ARTICLE: Online job listing an ID Theft Scam

CAREERJOURNAL: Preparing for a Layoff

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Good luck with your job search!!

Susan Joyce
Editor and Senior Job Hunter