Job Seeker Resources

In today's rocky financial times, most people's minds naturally turn towards retaining their jobs. No one relishes the prospect of opening their paycheck and finding a pink slip inside, ruining what you thought was a secure job. It's frightening that formerly-bulletproof employers such as Google are even laying people off. Retail operations are hit particularly hard, with some retail outlets like Circuit City closing outright, putting thousands of people out of jobs. Kay-Bee Toys and Wilson's Leather, for example, are closing their retail operations down outright. Even the government, an employment sector once thought of as totally secure, is contracting and laying people off. In times of such economic uncertainty, is there any way you can make your employer see you as a "recession-proof" invaluable asset? You will, of course, want to stay active in your personal job search and check local job listings daily, in addition, there's one other huge step you can take, too.

One really good way to let your employer know how much you value your job is to educate yourself. All things being equal, if an employer has to choose between two equally-salaried and benefited employees, they will usually opt to keep the employee with the greater education. Some employers feel so passionately about their employees continuing their education, that they are willing to reimburse them up to 100% of the upfront cost of their continued learning! As it's in the best interest of both the employer and employee that the worker be as knowledgeable as possible, many employers see higher education as quite a valuable function.

It may seem nearly impossible to keep up with the demands of a full time job, your house and family and friends, while attending college at the same time. It's not impossible- look at the number of people that attend law school at night, for example- but it is extremely difficult. However, a great alternative has arisen in recent years- the alternative of home school, distance education. Online learning allows people to earn their degree in a shorter span of time than they'd ever imagined, and all from the comfort of the living room couch. You'll be receiving a quality education without the hassles of buying textbooks, finding parking, making yourself presentable and adhering to a predetermined schedule, and at a comparable cost to classes in a traditional educational setting, as well.

Most online classes will have you reading the textbook electronically (usually, it's included in the cost), preparing writing assignments, and participating in discussion with the rest of the group a couple of times a week. You'll want to get familiar with the tools that allow groups in disparate time zones and geographic locations to stay in contact, such as Internet Relay Chat and instant messenger- this is because there is group work involved in many of these types of classes. The biggest attraction of distance learning is that you can largely set your own schedule- if the urge to write a paper strikes you at 4 AM, you can write it then, and if you wake up thinking about a great point to raise in discussion, you don't have to wait for class to start to do it.

You can get a good online education for about the same price as a traditional classroom education as well, so cost shouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Bear in mind that you'll need a strong sense of motivation and personal responsibility as well as a higher-than-average dose of self discipline to succeed in the world of electronic distance learning. Remember, though, not having classes to attend and instructors to harangue you about finishing assignments means that if you want to succeed, you will have to be tough on yourself. If that sounds doable to you, you should strongly consider online education as a way to improve yourself- it's a no-lose proposition!

There are two goals to be met when trying to reach your HR SEO goals.

1. Increase the number of highly qualified and targeted job seekers to your corporate career website.

2. Grow the employer's brand by getting high search engine rankings for pages that contain content that's related to the keyword strings that potential employees use when using the search engines to conduct their job search.

As the industry grows, more and more firms are trying to make headway in the HR SEO space. All of these vendors are selling pretty much the same thing, usually manifested something like "we will get your jobs out of your ATS, build a micro-site to host them, and then optimize it for the search engines, sending those applicants back into your ATS".

This approach will result in optimized pages that the search engines will find; however, it's not meeting the two stated goals of any SEO campaign. This on its own will not lead to more job seekers applying for your open positions. You aren't building the brand because it isn't enough to structure a page so that Google can see it- you have to get quality sites to link to the pages you want to promote or no job seekers will find your pages.

Here is why.

It's very important that you optimize these micro-sites for the keyword phrases that job seekers are actually using to look for jobs in the search engines. For example, you could make a page optimized for the phrase "third grade teacher jobs in Elkhart, Indiana"; however, no one is going to type that into the Google, Yahoo! Or MSN search box. It doesn't matter how much time or money you spend promoting a page if no one is going to search using the keyword phrase you're optimizing for, because if they aren't searching that way they certainly aren't going to find and apply for your jobs. Can you remember the last time you used Google and went deeper than the first or maybe the second page of results? Chances are you don't do that very often. In fact, research shows that more than 85% of all traffic is driven by the results on the first page- so top 10 or top 20 rankings are all that really matter. If you're optimizing for a search string that has 4 or more words in it, being on page two means being irrelevant, because there are so few people using that search string that even if you get all the traffic in a month, you're only getting maybe 100 extra views on your pages. That's not going to drive traffic!

So, does anything actually work?

First, you need to perform keyword research. This entails researching a list of potential keyword search strings, and developing a list of "keyword phrases" that your job seeker target audience is currently using to find your job openings. It's only after you've done this research that you can begin working on designing a "landing page" for your jobs, specifically constructed to rank highly on Google and other search engines for the keyword strings your target audience is using. It bears repeating- you HAVE to know what keyword phrases your jobseeker target audience is using to search for jobs- only once you know that can you start building out pages optimized for the strings you choose. After your page has been optimized, typically, an SEO vendor will help to "submit" and promote the page with Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.

This is a relatively easy process.

You can't stop there, however. While the above steps will likely get you indexed in Google, it's not going to be on page 1, and if it's a competitive phrase you're probably not going to be on page 2, 3, or 4 either! The last step on your path to SEO success is also the most time consuming, difficult and expensive part of the process. However, without the proper marketing, your landing pages and career site are identical to everyone else's. You must obtain back links from other high-quality and well-thought-of websites to be seen as the authority.

In closing, there are 3 crucial steps to any successful SEO campaign.

1. Doing the proper keyword research to figure out how to drive jobseekers to your career site while building your brand.

2. Design and create a web page optimized for those keywords.

3. Conducting a marketing strategy for these landing pages that builds credibility and authority for them.

Any SEO strategy that does not make use of all 3 of these aspects is destined to fail, and that failure will be measured by the distinct lack of new job seekers to your SEO micro site or career site.

I'm going to shake things up a bit today, and post an article for employers, rather than one for job seekers. This should still be valuable to job seekers, though, as a "through the looking glass" view of how employers view you. The topic today is niche job boards- any board that ends in jobs.com, really, and why you, as an employer, should be using them as part of your recruiting strategy.

Get the competitive edge with your recruiting strategy... start using Niche job boards!

Finding a job using the internet is a pretty stressful task, even for a qualified and experienced job seeker. As someone in the recruiting industry, you likely have an intimate knowledge of how many job boards are popping up on the web every single day. Chances are you probably understand how hard it is to know which of your recruiting strategies add value, and which are wastes of time. For that reason, it's important that you choose job boards that can track your results- in other words; they need to be able to show you what kind of return on investment (ROI) posting on their board is giving you, so that you can focus on posting to boards that are producing quality candidates.

There are many strategies you can use to drive qualified candidates to your company. For example, if you can find the niches on the web where they are hanging out, rather than just using large quantity, national job boards, you are showing them that you are both technically savvy, and attuned to their needs. It's important to make the "buyer"- in this case, the job seeker- feel as if you want them and care about them. Tracking them down is one way to show that.

Need additional reasons why you need to post on niche job boards? Here are a few reasons to consider:

1. Niche job boards make the task easier for the job seeker. Big generic boards require candidates to "learn their system" to cut down on the signal-to noise ratio and eliminate jobs that aren't appropriate to the job seeker. On a smaller board, it's much easier for a candidate to find your position, regardless of how long it has been posted. 2. Resume mining on niche job boards is much easier than it is on big boards- the quantity of course won't be as great, but you'll be getting much better quality, and much more highly focused résumés 3. Most niche and association job boards have either no fee, or relatively small fees for posting jobs. This helps your bottom line!

It shouldn't be too difficult to find niche job boards to post to by doing a simple web search. A good idea would be to look for associations related to your industry- they are as targeted as job boards come, usually don't charge high fees, and in general have good pools of candidates. Always be on the lookout for good boards that end in jobs.com and you should have a resource stockpile in no time! Good luck, and hopefully this niche board strategy will pay off for you as it has for me!

So you're thinking of moving to California. Great, I did about 4 years ago and I have never looked back! The people, the weather, and the job market here are all just fantastic. California is a great place to live and work, but there are some differences between working in California and working in other states. You'll want to take these into account during your first Cal jobs search.

Everyone loves taxes, right? RIGHT?? No, of course not, but we still need to discuss it here. Employers in California can only deduct payroll taxes as required by law. There are a lot of things they aren't allowed to deduct from your paycheck, either- they can't charge you for having a picture taken or for a work uniform, they can't deduct your gratuities from your check, and they can't charge you for "business expenses" or physical examinations as required for work. Employers can't charge you for "breakage", either- they have to absorb that as part of the cost of doing business.

Minimum wage in California is also the highest in the nation, even higher than the Federal minimum wage. Minimum wage out here is $8 an hour, which is pretty good if you consider that means you can make almost $1300 a month working at a very low-skilled job. Of course, there are special stipulations for sheepherders, but since you probably aren't a sheepherder we will gloss over those. If there is ever a conflict between the State and Federal minimum wage, the tie goes to the employee and the employer must pay the higher wage. Another interesting fact is that this law applies to servers, as well- whereas servers in other states make much less than minimum wage, based on the assumption that they will receive tips, in California they make the same minimum wage as anyone else- from $2.31 and hour to $8 an hour is quite a big step up!

Holidays in California may work differently than you're used to, as well. There is absolutely no requirement that an employer close down on any day of the year, nor is there a requirement that a Cal employer must pay extra to employees working on holidays. Make sure that you bear this in mind when discussing your schedule with a potential employer- in California, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays are nothing special, when it comes to extra pay.

You may not be used to this next fact, either, but Cal jobs are very specific about how your pay is disbursed, as well. Employees must be paid on the 26th of the month for all hours worked between the 1st and 16th of that same month, and on the 10th day of the next month for all hours worded from the 16th of the previous month through month end. Also (this was a surprise to me), when you leave a job, all outstanding wages must be paid within 72 hours of the employee giving notice/working their last shift.

The biggest difference between California and where you currently work may be that California is an "at-will employment" state. Employees are free to quit their jobs without cause, and likewise, employers are allowed to terminate their employees without cause, as well. However, anti-discrimination laws still apply- you can't be disciplined or let go based on any of the following criteria (as defined by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act): race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, physical disability, mental disability or medical condition, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, age (as it applies to people over 40), pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Keep all of the above in mind when starting your cal jobs search and things should go swimmingly!

Now that we've discussed some of the more general aspects of truck driving jobs, let's get a little more specific. Today, we are going to discuss the one piece of documentation any truck driver needs to have- the Commercial Driver's License, hereafter referred to as the CDL.

You must have a CDL to operate any vehicle with a weight of 26,000 or more pounds, and it's also required to operate a tow truck or a bus. A tractor-trailer requires more expertise to drive than a regular passenger car, which is why the Federal government mandates a special license- namely, the CDL- for large, heavy vehicles. Up until 1986, drivers could get a separate license from every state, allowing them to cover up poor driving records and accidents, which is why the Department of Transportation (DOT) passed the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, which standardized minimum requirements for obtaining a CDL and mandated both a written and road test.

You do not have to attend a school to take the test, you simply need to demonstrate competency on the road and pass the written test with 80% of the questions correctly. Employers, training facilities, States, governmental departments, and private institutions can administer knowledge and driving test for the State. The test must be the same as those given by the State issuing the CDL and the instructors must meet the same professional certification as State instructors.

A CDL allows an 18-21 year old to operate a commercial vehicle within their own state only. Once a driver turns 21, the license automatically converts to a national license that lets them transport cargo across state lines. New York and New Jersey also have additional laws related to the CDL which apply to limousines and school buses.

There are also several additional endorsements a driver may earn for their CDL:

T- Double or Triple Semi Trailer- Written Test P- Passenger Vehicle - Written and Driving Tests

S- School Bus- Written Test, Driving Test, Background Check, Sex Offender Registry Check and "P" endorsement

N- Tanker Truck- Written Test

H- Hazardous Materials- Written Test, Background check through the TSA

X- Combination Tank/Hazardous Materials- Written Test

Operating a commercial vehicle without a CDL is a civil penalty of up to $2,500, in more extreme cases; a criminal charge may be levied with a penalty of up to $5,000 and 90 days in jail. An employer may be fined up to $10,000 if they willingly and/or knowingly allow a driver to operate one of their vehicles without having obtained their CDL. You may lose your CDL if you commit two or more serious traffic violations (90-day to 5-year suspension) or one serious traffic violation (one year suspension). You may also lose your CDL if you are found to be driving under the influence of an illicit substance or are convicted of using a CMV to commit a felony (3 year suspension).

To get your CDL, the best course of action is to attend an accredited CDL training program through a truck driving school, where you will learn how to read a map, how to plan your trips, and how to comply with DOT law, as well as the mechanics of driving the truck like backing up, turning, hooking up a trailer, and driving on the road. Here are some tips on choosing a CDL training program: Shop around- there can be massive variations in price and quality of instruction from school to school Community college and vocational/technical schools are almost always accredited, and provide an excellent value Most trucking companies won't hire you if your CDL training was completed in a week or two- try to find an eight-week school. "FREE TRAINING" is not always free- some companies require you to work for them for a year in exchange for "free" training. You will need a physical exam and your driving record will be checked by any trucking company you apply with. Don't pay for training that you won't be able to use. Most companies will disqualify you if you have been convicted of certain felonies. Again, don't pay for training that you won't be able to use.

Have you ever heard the phrase "if you bought it, a truck brought it?" Well, that's because trucking is the main driving force behind America's economy! 70% of everything you buy has traveled on a truck at some point. In the year 2006, trucks transported over 10 billion tons of freight, and the trucking industry was a 645 billion dollar business! Here are some things that you're going to want to know if you intend to take on truck driving jobs as a career.

Truck drivers are generally excellent behind the wheel- they spend a lot of time there! They are involved in traffic collisions less than half as often as passenger car drivers are. However, truck driving jobs do present its own unique set of challenges: the hours are long and lead to fatigue, the profession can be very lonely, and there are significant health and safety challenges. Drivers are also subject to strict Federal regulations and must submit to random drug tests, as well.

Consider the following:

Truck drivers experience 10% of ALL the workplace fatalities in the US and 8% of all workplace musculoskeletal injuries. It has even been suggested (with strong empirical evidence to back it up) that a long-term career as a trucker can reduce the average person's life span from 10 to 12 years! That may be why the industry experiences such a high rate of turnover- 136% in the 4th quarter of 2005. That means that for every 100 people that took a trucking job during that time frame, 136 of them quit!

Knowing some of the industry rules may help you decide if you want to pursue a career in trucking or not. Legally, truckers can drive for 11 hours at a time, with a 10-hour break immediately afterwards. Also, truckers MUST take a 10 hour break after their 14th hour of the day, independent of the number of miles driven. Truckers may drive up to 70 hours per week, but are not paid overtime after working the standard 40 hour week. A trucker has to be 21 years of age to drive cross-country and 18 years of age to drive a truck within their home state. Many carriers are hesitant to hire young drivers and will not hire you unless you are at least 23 years old- 25 years old, in some extreme cases.

Truckers are usually paid by the mile, so a trucker has to drive a lot to bring in a good paycheck. When a driver isn't driving (if they are sitting waiting for freight to get loaded or in traffic, for example), they aren't making any money- this leads some drivers to bend the federally mandated rules about drive times in order to ensure their pay is good. A trucker averages from between 19 to 44 cents a mile. It's tough to narrow down "how much a trucker makes" because incomes from $300 a week to $1200 a week are frequently reported.

Trucking is keeping pace with the Internet, as now almost the entire industry is computerized. Most trucks are equipped with a Qualcomm Satellite System, which tracks where the truck is down to a three-block radius. In the past, truck drivers were tied to the telephone to know when and where to get their next load, but now, the trucking company's dispatcher simply sends out a message over the Qualcomm- this message includes directions, location, distance- everything the trucker needs to handle the load.

Now that you're armed with a little more knowledge, get out there and get yourself your CDL and your first truck driving jobs. You'll be hauling freight in no time, and helping to keep our economy moving!

Everyday, I continue to learn something new about the online job search process. Today, I learned that Truck Driving Jobs is one of the most competitive niches in the job board business. "Really?" you say?

You bet.

Here's why... When truck drivers finish delivering a local or long haul load, many times they have to head back home, or to another destination. It makes sense, that if they can pick up another load, on their way back, or to their next delivery, to keep the truck full, they can make more money.

Well... welcome to the Internet. Most truck stops are already Wifi enabled. Using online job boards, truck drivers can log into the Internet, find a delivery, that needs to be made, pick it up, and take off. It's actually a pretty unique solution to creating great efficiencies.

So you want to be a trucker, eh? There are some terms you are going to need to know, and having the "lingo" down pat can't ever hurt in a job interview, or during a networking opportunity. With that in mind, let's review some of the industry's common terms.

Motor Carrier- a person or company providing transport of people or goods using commercial vehicles

Shipper - The person "sending" goods using a freight service Receiver- The person "receiving" goods using a freight service

Consignor- The person who transfers legal responsibility for a load to a carrier

Consignee- The person who takes legal responsibility for a load from a carrier

Freight- The cargo being hauled / handled

BOL (Bill of Lading)/Manifest- A paper document that states the content and nature of the cargo

Intermodal- a description referring to a single container that is transported via multiple means during shipment, i.e. from air to sea to rail to a truck

TSE/Shore Power- Truck Stop Electrification- external power "docks" that allow truckers to operate internal systems such as climate control or television without idling their engines

Deadheading- Operating a truck that isn't hauling any cargo

OTR (over-the-road)- Any trip longer than the maximum per-day period of 14 hours where the driver doesn't return to the home location

Terminal- A dock where trucks come and go and freight is sorted

Owner/Operator- a self-employed independent contractor that operates a privately owned or leased truck

Team Drivers- A team of 2 or more drivers that ride in the same truck and drive in shifts so that the truck is essentially always in motion. Usually used when a shipment is time-sensitive or perishable

Dedicated (regular) Route- a driver that transports cargo between 2 or more locations repetitively, usually keeping to a certain schedule.

Irregular Route- a driver who goes anywhere at any time without sticking to a scheduled route

Regional- a Driver who works in a limited geographical area within a certain radius. A regional driver may or may not maintain a regular schedule.

Truckload (TL)- A load of freight consisting mostly of one kind of cargo, usually handled by an Over-The-Road driver

Less-Than-Truckload (LTL)- a load of freight consisting of several different types of cargo with several different destinations, usually handled by a dedicated or regional driver

Let's say you are applying for truck driving jobs. Do you need to include a cover letter with your application? Yes, absolutely- read on to find out why!

At some point, we've all sat around contemplating whether to write a cover letter when applying for a job. You've probably wondered if a cover letter even makes a difference or if anyone even reads it. Human Resource Management consultants have discussed the difference between an application with and without a cover letter and the conclusion is that those with cover letters are able to set themselves apart from the throngs of people applying for the same position.

How can your cover letter set you apart?

In addition to introducing yourself as a person rather than just another resume, a cover letter should explain to an employer what you want to do and what makes you qualified to do it. A great strategy for getting this information across is to quickly introduce yourself, mention which position you are applying for, why you are interested in the position and what makes you a qualified applicant for the position.

To clearly show your qualifications without appearing overconfident, you can list a few of the qualifications listed in the position requirements and; alongside them, note your experiences, certifications- anything that proves you have the desired skills and experience for the position. Then simply close with a "thank you" and provide your contact information. Make sure your full name and contact information is included just in case your resume and cover letter become separated.

Think of it this way: your resume is like a piece of marketing material, but your cover letter is the sales pitch. Would you buy something if all you got was information on the product without a pitch as to why you should buy it? Probably not- the same goes for employers.

It's very important to put your best foot forward when you are applying for a job. Employers normally receive a barrage of resumes for each open position; they don't have time to sift through each and every resume and find the ones that have potential. Showcase your potential through a cover letter, and chances are you'll be off the market in no time!

Has it been a while since you last looked for a job? Many things can lead you into a new career search, perhaps you have recently been terminated due to lay offs, perhaps your company is "right-sizing", or perhaps you'd just like to try something new. Either way, you must be proactive in your search for a new job. You need to start networking and using your connections to find a position that will make you happy. Here is some general advice to keep in mind as you begin your search for your dream job.

It's all about connections. Having a friend, associate or colleague "on the inside" at a company you want to work for is a huge benefit. That contact can give you a very clear picture of the company culture and let you know before you even start if you'd be a good fit. This person will be able to tell you if management works in a style that gels with your own, and will probably have a pretty good idea as to whether this job will satisfy you or not. Also, it never hurts to have a reference inside the company, especially for jobs where the recruiter is going to be receiving hundreds or even thousands of resumes. The biggest benefit, however, is that this person may be able to tell you about open positions that aren't being publicly announced, giving you the inside track to being hired.

Be resourceful. Start using the tools available to you before you actually need them. Talk to your connections, put your feelers out, visit job boards and company career centers and set up email agents that will help automate the job search. If you feel that the big job boards seem to only have positions that aren't a very good fit for you, think about any professional associations you may be a member of, and check their websites (they often have career centers as well). There are also many niche job boards that focus their efforts on particular area of expertise (like this one, for truck driving jobs) or geographic location- use these specialty job boards to cut down on the legwork and narrow your search.

Stay Positive. One thing about job searching is that it can be frustrating and sometimes depressing. Don't let it affect you in that manner. Those feelings can come across both in your written and verbal communication (like on your resume or in your interview). You don't want employers to think you are too anxious or at the other end of the scale; even dispassionate. Remain upbeat and they'll see your true, passionate and professional self. Remember: the right job is out there; you just have to find it!

I was helping my friend look for a trucking job, and it occurred to me that there may be a lot of people out there that aren't using niche sites to look for a job. So, I wrote kind of a primer here on why you ought to be using niche jobs. I hope you like it!

Searching for a job on the Internet has never been easier, and by the same token it's never been harder. Even a savvy web user would have a hard time wading through the hundreds of thousands of job sites out there, and to complicate things you are probably either out of work, or dissatisfied with your current position/career track. You have probably experienced feelings of being "lost" when searching online, and to be sure, there ARE a lot of questions- what sites are worth using? Does it even matter? Should I post a public resume? How should I begin?

Internet recruiting is still a pretty immature industry. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of new employment web sites added to the Internet every week. Chances are, your perfect job is probably posted on a site that you've never even heard of. The default behavior is usually to just use the big, generic national boards since that's what all of the employers use, right? Well, some of them do, and some of them don't. Increasingly, in this time of a tight economy and tight budgets, employers are reevaluating their advertising budgets for recruiting which leads them to also reevaluate which sites they use to attract quality employees to fill their open positions.

There's a pretty good chance that your ideal job exists as a hard-to-fill position, which makes employers all the more likely to reach out to association websites and regional/industry specific job sites. THIS is where you want to have a presence. If you're not convinced, here's 3 reasons why you need to be on niche job boards:

1. Niche job boards narrow the number of jobs you have to look through to find your diamond in the rough. The more generic job boards require clever searching to eliminate jobs that aren't in your area, industry or on your professional level 2. Once you've defined and located your niche, you are ALWAYS in demand! Joining an Association related to your field of expertise or career track lets potential employers know that you are more qualified for positions that fit their niche than job seekers on the large generic boards. 3. Employers that post on niche job boards have taken measures to target ideal candidates. Rather than taking the easy route and solely posting on the "big" boards, they have made an effort to understand you, the job seeker, and where you feel most comfortable searching. This type of company has you and your success in mind - something that is likely important to you.

Now, go off and find your niche. There are many associations out there pertaining to your specific field or general industry. Find those that you feel represent who you are and what you do, then join them. Alternatively, you can search for jobs by state, in your industry or region of the country and then sign up on the sites that seem to have the results you want. Good luck!