Unless a job-seeker is using a close-network of associates, most individuals implementing a job-search require multiple tools in their job-search tool-chest, many of which have a price-tag attached.
Tools most people require to perform a guided and successful job search, include several customized professional resumes to match specific employers you plan to impress; workplace references professionally prepared and focused and also customized to address specific candidate strengths/weaknesses; many applicants benefit from including with their resume and other hiring documents, depending upon your industry - third-party background or credit checks, or both; a computer on-which to organize and archive and research possible employers and job search documents and to have software to track each company with which you submit your resume; not to mention the requirement to access the internet, as many companies, nowadays, exclusively accept job applications via online processes operated by their Human Resources experts - even to the point of using online resources to set and confirm job interviews. Then there is the cost of a cell or other telephone device for job related communications, and an email account, so you can keep in touch digitally. Of course, prior to a job interview, many folks purchase new suits, shoes, have their hair styled; then there is cost of gas to get to the interview, or bus or plane or taxi fare, so on and so on.
The unledgered cost of a job search, once those related bills are associated firmly with the cost-of-finding-a-new-job, can be staggering, mounting even into thousands-of-dollars; and often times a deal-killer, for those who cannot muster the cost of the job-search resources listed above.
If you find yourself in that circumstance, you may wonder to yourself the same thing that millions of other job-seekers have been thinking: How do you beat the high cost of a job search, and still get hired?
It's easy. Don't spend the money; but still get hired promptly, or in a reasonable time-frame, anyway; whereby your efforts are guided by professional hiring counselors - as much or as little as you need. There is no 'hard part,' to this strategy. In fact, for each of the pesky job-search items identified for the tool-chest above, there is a professional counter-part available - at no charge - for those who decide to save some cash.
Consider this: libraries are often forgotten as a valuable resource for organizing or implementing a professional job-search. A majority of U.S. libraries offer free access to computers pre-loaded with word-processing and spreadsheet software, that allows users to interface with the internet to harvest job-search intelligence, submit and follow-up with resumes, initiate job-search social networking contacts, and other related activities; with that in mind, maybe there is no need to spend the cash to upgrade your home-computer. And don't forget the myriad business directories typically found in most libraries, which offer thousands of employer hiring contacts. And industry trade magazine, which carry job postings. And valuable certified training - yes, that's correct - certified training. Many local libraries partner with non-profit organizations, such as SCORE and UNITED WAY and GOODWILL INDUSTRIES, to bring in training specialists who lead seminars and classes there on library premises.
Another choice: Many national restaurants, hotels, motels, fast-food and retail outlets offer free WiFi, to attract consumers to their places of business. Most laptop computers can access those wireless systems. I've seen it happen with job candidates I know who used very inexpensive USB based digital phone devices to make-and-take job-search related long-distance phone calls, while being connected to free WiFi signals, such as those mentioned above. They were all successfully hired.
Especially in retail, and in most workplace environments where an employee - manager or not - is going to handle or deposit cash or other valuable property, running a background check or credit-check is something that will likely occur. How do you beat the expense of those checks when you want to include such a valuable confirmation of trust with your resume? Let the employer pay, of course; that's a no-brainer.
But the smart job applicant, those willing to spend the money or find an equal, but free, alternative, have those checks done in advance and submit verifiable copies with their initial resume submission. Such initiative makes the difference between being noticed and going into the "we'll think about it" pile. Department of Labor (2008) statistics confirm that of the small percent of applicants brought in for a job interview, the majority of those candidates customized their hiring documents and pre-supposed certain testing or qualifying questions and addressed those interests inside the resume submission documents.
In the case of background-check data, when you want to confirm your current or past address or addresses, past phone numbers, arrest records or lack-thereof, traffic violations status or other minor interactions with local authorities, court cases, past employers - an array of such details are to be found for nearly every county in the United States. Digital conversion of hardcopy public records, court records, police records, city/county/township/school-district records, and other public organization records began decades ago. It's out there. I often research the job candidates I personally recruit in the same manner. I go to the city/county where they live, find the county court online records, and see what I can find. I do the same thing for each city listed and associated with an employer on that candidate's resume. The stories I could tell; those aside, I usually suggest to job candidates to run their own 'vanity' background-checks (as I did on them), archive copies of the searches, their respective URLs, etc... and print out, as verification, the resulting pages to confirm whatever it is they require for their job search. I've seen hundreds of hires occur based on such documents. Why trust them? Because anyone can verify the truth for themselves at any time, as it's in the public record.
These are just a few of the ways a serious job applicant can jazz up their job-search with some professional level pizz-zazz that often carries a hefty price-tag. There are other ways too, for example, accessing a local job-counselor at the federally funded CareerOneStop centers, found in every state, and manned by trained job-search specialist, who can lead you to resources that help you get hired, as well as help you organize those customized job-resumes and job-references, and so on and so on.
Best of luck in your job search.
Mark Baber, Job Placement expert and Radio Host of "The Job Search Show," is a 20 year Executive Search specialist and Recruit Consultant, and advisor to [http://www.JobNewsRadio.com] & "JOB SEARCH MAGAZINE and Job Search Directory.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com/5521228