Job Search 101

Job Search Technology Class: Teacher’s Outline

Before Class
Check with the front desk, so we know you're in the building, and to see how many students are signed up for class. Get each student's name

Use the thin clients already set up in the classroom - students will log on as guest - everything they need is on these clients.

Introductions
Who's teaching?
 * Give your name and explain that you're a volunteer as well
 * Talk a little about your experience with computers and with searching for jobs online

Purpose of Class
 * Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively conduct a search for employment using the internet and office software
 * Students will demonstrate the ability to correspond and communicate with employers using email and office software
 * Students will demonstrate the ability to stay organized while conducting a job search by using tools to track what they have accomplished, and what they wish to accomplish

Expectations
 * Ask students to silence cell phones and not call or text during class
 * Remind students to be respectful of fellow students

Student Introductions
 * Name
 * Computer experience
 * What their experience is in searching for employment, specifically using technology
 * Encourage Questions

Encourage students to ask questions about words or ideas that are unclear or unfamiliar. If something will be addressed later in the class, you will put off answering it until then. If something is totally outside the scope of the class, you can talk to them about it after class. Write questions on the board if you plan on coming back to them later.

Avoiding scams - Items to point out

 * You should never have to pay to apply for a job unless you have signed up for a service.
 * Don't reveal more information than is needed.
 * An email address is sufficient. If the employer contacts you and you determine they are legitimate, then you can give them other contact info if you choose.
 * Also, if the job sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
 * If you have to do little or nothing to get the job, that is always a bad sign. If an address is listed, look it up on google maps and go to street view.
 * If it is a random house or abandoned looking building, that is a bad sign. Be careful, there are lots of scams out there!

Using job search engines
Indeed.com
 * List some job search engines on the board, choose indeed.com for an excercise
 * Walk through a search, have students choose a job they are interested in
 * Set up customized email alerts (explain what these are) located below the search results. Walk students through doing this for themselves.
 * Go over ‘advanced search’ options (where they can choose distance, wage range, etc).
 * Can walk through doing a google search for these:
 * Monster.com
 * Oregonian classifieds
 * Willamette Week online
 * Simply Hired

Tracking your searches

 * Use a spreadsheet to track ‘what, when, and where’ (use Open Office Spreadsheet)
 * Go over pasting urls of job postings and company web site links
 * Using online calendars and local calendars
 * Use google calendars or equivalent online calendar, or Evolution
 * Mention online calendars like in gmail and hotmail and the benefits of using those (email reminders being a big one)

Resumes
Show class some examples of different kinds of resumes - See examples here: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/resumes/p/resumetypes.htm Have students go to the ‘targeted resume’, copy the text (of resume only!) and then open a word document and paste the text in, then have them save it to the desktop

Discuss tailoring resumes to the job being applied for and using keywords used in the job description.

Suggest that they may want to email copies of their resumes to themselves as they are updated as back up. They can also use cloud storage sites like drop box and gmail, etc to keep back-ups

Formatting Resumes
(Use text editor here) Keeping text formatted versions of your resume to copy and paste into online application forms. This avoids messy formatting issues when pasting directly from Word.
 * 1) Open resume
 * 2) Open text editor
 * 3) Copy content from resume to clipboard
 * 4) Paste resume into text editor and save - NOTE: remind students they will need to make sure and update text version(s) every time the update word or other versions

PDFs
 * Export as PDF in Open Office Word and save a copy
 * Explain the benefits of the pdf format; it looks to same on every computer and almost everyone is able to open it. Also, it is a reasonable size.

Follow up
Talk about the appropriate amount of time to follow up after submitting an application; generally one week after applying.

Thank you notes. The day after the interview is best practice to send thank you notes.

If the company is a traditional, ‘old fashioned’ company, a mailed letter is best. If it is a more modern company, especially a tech-related company, an email will do. In general, they should be short; Thank the interviewer. Reiterate why you're a good fit. Close by saying you're looking forward to the next step.

Tell students to check their junk/spam email box for responses from employers. Their spam filter will usually think responses are junk mail. They can flag them as safe when they come in so future correspondence it will go to the inbox.

Conclusion
Point students to the Job Search 101 Research Document. This is a place where students of the Job Search Technology Class can find useful links and tips. It is an open document, they can feel free to add anything that may be helpful to others.

Please ask them to put items in the relevant areas under the headings, and they should keep in mind this is a public document, ask them to please be respectful and appropriate.

This page will evolve over time, so stay tuned!

Questions from students?