When Is The Best Time to Apply For Online Jobs?

The job application process is no doubt tedious and tiring for everyone. We’ve all been there – sifting through the various job ad postings, sending through resume after resume, and all we want to do is get the application process over with as fast as possible. Everyone tells you to at least take a few minutes to tailor your resume and cover letter to each job you apply for.

Personalizing your application materials no doubt increases your chances of getting a call back, but I’m also going to let you know that there is another way to increase your chances at getting that interview call, and it has absolutely nothing to do with who you are or with the quality of your resume and cover letter – it simply has to do with when you send through your materials.

I recently had a friend complain to me about getting no call backs at all. She had sent through personalized resumes and cover letters dozens of times and had not received one interview invitation. Sure, the job market is extremely tough in some areas at the moment, but to receive zero phone calls out of dozens was a bit alarming to me.

I asked her to show me her resume, and everything looked great. She told me about the sites she was applying through, and I saw no problem with that either. But she then told me about the application process itself, and this is where an important detail stood out – the time she was sending through her resumes.

Many job seekers, especially the already employed, use nights and weekends to send out the bulk of their applications, and this can sometimes put them at an immediate disadvantage. Anyone who’s worked in an office environment knows that Mondays are usually extremely hectic. Everyone’s trying to catch up on their emails and phone calls, and there usually isn’t a lot of time to spare, especially on things that are not urgent, like reading resumes. The first thing most people do when reading emails is prioritize and figure out what needs to get done sooner rather than later – resumes, especially ones sent days ago, usually fall into the “later” pile.

The point is that you want to be sure that your resume and cover letter are noticed. Sending them through on the weekend not only puts your email toward the back of the line chronologically, but it also puts it among the spam messages that have filled up the inbox, and you don’t want to accidentally get deleted.

Ideally, try to respond to job advertisements during the day, when someone is most likely to see it, let alone read it. If your only time to apply for jobs is on the weekend, at least try to send through your cover letters and resumes toward the later part of the weekend, preferably on Sunday evenings. You want your resume and cover letter to be one of the first things the hiring manager sees, not something that they see toward the bottom of their inbox that they will “get to later.”

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

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Stop Stressing About Writing Your Resume!!!

25 College Blogs for the College Student!

Here is a list of my favourite top 25 blogs for the college student. These great blogs are fun, informative and provide great tips and advice for the college student or recent graduate

 

Life After College

There’s no manual for the real world. Find resources for life, work, money, happiness, personal growth, productivity and more:  http://www.lifeaftercollege.org/

Graduated And Clueless

Graduated And Clueless is Your Source for Conquering Life After College! http://graduatedandclueless.com/

Life is like a box of chocolates

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” http://www.lifeschocolates.com/

Hooking Up Smart

HookingUpSmart.com aims to support women and men in their search for meaningful relationships http://www.hookingupsmart.com/

The Simple Dollar

The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Google Student Blog

Google news and updates especially for students http://googleforstudents.blogspot.com/

My Very Worst Date

War zone reporting from the dating trenches: yellers, criers, freeloaders, psychos, the depraved, etc http://www.myveryworstdate.com/

The “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks

A moderated blog with user-submitted pictures of quotation marks used improperly, with humorous commentary. http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

Green Smoothie Girl

Helping you achieve extraordinary health eating whole foods. http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/

Student Branding Blog

Navigating Students to Future Success! http://studentbranding.com/

THEMADGRAD

We started this site, because after College we found ourselves, as well as many of our friends, going through the “After- college crisis.” http://themadgrad.com/

Courting Your Career

Match yourself with the perfect job http://courtingyourcareer.wordpress.com/

Gearfire

Gearfire is a student productivity and organization blog, bringing you tips for academic success. http://www.gearfire.net/

BUSTEDTEES

We decided to start making T-shirts because we want people to have fun, laugh, look good, feel comfortable http://blog.bustedtees.com/

HoboStudent.com

Relax grab a beer and read what HoboStudent.com has to offer. http://hobostudent.com/

Surviving College Life

Surviving College Life is every student’s guide to the ins and outs of college. http://www.survivingcollegelife.com/

Every College Girl

The concept is simple: “things every college girl should know” http://everycollegegirl.com/

Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money is my personal journal where I explore how I can save money and make more money. http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/

Man vs. Debt

Sell your crap. Pay off your debt. Do what you love http://manvsdebt.com/

Overheard at College.com

Overheard something funny or interesting on campus? Post it Here! http://www.overheardatcollege.com/

Ivy Gate

News, gossip and commentary blog that covers the Ivy League http://www.ivygateblog.com/

College Candy

Read, frollick, comment, catfight: Have it out at CollegeCandy http://collegecandy.com/

PassiveAggressiveNotes.com

Photographs of vaguely threatening signs, notes and messages http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/

The Prereq

The Prereq: Required reading for your college world http://theprereq.com/

Poorer Than You

Money issues for college students and 20-somethings, without being boring http://poorerthanyou.com/

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

RedStarResume: #1 resume writing service for college students & graduates

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If you require a professionally written resume to help you with your job pursuit please visit the resume experts at “RedStarResume” http://www.redstarresume.com.au/

Plan on Asking For a Raise? Try to Avoid These Red Flags

There comes a point in every worker’s career when he or she feels deserving of a pay raise. If you’re like most people, it will probably be on you to ask for one – a raise won’t just be granted automatically. What you need to do is give your employer some concrete reasons for why you deserve one, and try to make it hard for them to say no. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that no matter how deserving you feel of one, employers will be reluctant to give you one if you possess one of the following traits:

You routinely arrive to work late

There is no better way to kill your chance at a raise. No matter how much you may excel at your job, it won’t matter if you are habitually late to work, even by a couple of minutes.

You’ve had some issues with co-workers

Someone once described a constant disagreement between two co-workers as a “cancer in the workplace” because it spreads and eventually affects everyone else in the office. You don’t need to be best friends with everyone at work, but you definitely should avoid personal disputes with your colleagues. Problems like these will label you as a liability rather than an asset – no boss wants to deal with workers like this.

You take a lot of sick days

Sure, everyone gets sick sometimes, but have you ever noticed the people who always seem to be out of the office for one reason or another? Chances are that you’re not the only one who’s noticed. Employees like this are seen as unreliable and as ones who routinely take advantage of the company. This is definitely a label you don’t want on your back – especially if you’re about to ask for a raise.

Your boss asks you to do things more than once – repeatedly

It’s not the end of the world when you forget to do something at work, but it does become a problem with this is somewhat of a habit. No boss likes to ask for things twice, especially on a regular basis.

Laura is the Marketing Coordinator for RedStarResume, a business that provides resume and cover letter writing services for students, graduates and young professionals. © RedStarResume Publications – http://www.redstarresume.com Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RedStarResume

How to make sure you WON’T get hired!

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

The Job search market can be a tricky place to navigate. Whether you are just starting out, moving up the ladder or changing your current situation, RedStarResume have all the resources to help improve your chances of success. http://www.redstarresume.com/

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Hot Resume Tip…

Times have changed, after all, as Grant Cooper, president of Strategic Resumes Strategic, notes in the Resume Critique Writer software that he authored. “Brief resumes are simply no longer effective in today’s increasingly competitive job market,” he said. “The advice that ‘They only want to see one-page resumes,’ is perhaps the single most outdated and incorrect statement job-seekers hear today.”

 

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

The Job search market can be a tricky place to navigate. Whether you are just starting out, moving up the ladder or changing your current situation, RedStarResume have all the resources to help improve your chances of success. http://www.redstarresume.com/

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RedStarResume

Ask The Expert!

 Dean Bernard is a 10 year veteran in the recruitment world. Highly regarded as one of the best in the business, Dean sat down with RedStarResume to answer the big questions!

(RedStarResume) How is the state of the economy?

Too often I hear people tell me how bad things are. If I got a dollar for every time I heard “There are no jobs available” I would be worth millions. Its true that finding a job is tougher then what it was 5 years ago however due to the internet and new social networking sites (LinkedIN, facebook etc) there are now more opportunities for people to network and spread their resume to the right people. Social networking sites have opened up a whole new way for candidates to sell themselves online  

(RedStarResume) Advice for people wanting to make a career change

PLAN!!!! Changing your career is not an overnight move. It can take 6-12 months to plan out your change and execute your plan into action. You are going to encounter hurdles and obstacles along the way but as long as you stick to your plan anyone can make a career change.

(RedStarResume) What is the single most important thing a candidate can do when going for an interview?

First impressions! – Dress correctly, shine your shoes, tuck in your shirt, don’t chew gum etc.  All the small things are so important. It is amazing how many candidates fail the job interview because their first impressions were bad

(RedStarResume) What is your #1 Resume Tip?

Include your achievements!!!!! Your resume is your selling tool. Until you can meet the interviewer in person your resume is your selling tool. The hiring manager wants to know about your achievements and how you have excelled in your previous positions. When a hiring manager is reading through 100 resumes the skills of each candidate are going to be fairly similar. You need to make yourself stand out from the competition by emphasizing your achievements and how you have contributed to the success of your previous employment

(RedStarResume) What is your view on using a professional resume service?

I have always been a big advocate of using an expert in all aspects of life. When you’re buying a house you use a professional agent, if your toilet is leaking – you call an expert plumber. It is the same when deciding to go for a job. The more help you can get the greater your chances of succeeding. A professional resume writer can help you ensure that your resume is formatted correctly, targeted towards the job you are applying and adequately highlights your skills and achievements. Most importantly they will help you stay ahead of your competition. The job search can be one of the most difficult and stressful tasks so the more help you can get the better!

 (RedStarResume) Any Secret Tips a candidate can do during the interview

The secret tip is what the candidate can do before the interview. Preparation is the key. When the interviewer asks you if you have any questions , make sure you have questions ready to go. My tip to candidates is to be positive and under no circumstance NEVER NEVER bad mouth your previous employer,

Final Question:

(RedStarResume) Is there such a thing as a perfect job?

Yes of course! You need to work out what you are passionate about and follow your dreams. Sometimes in life your path takes you in a different direction but as long as you’re focused and determined you can find yourself your own perfect job.  Good luck!

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

The Job search market can be a tricky place to navigate. Whether you are just starting out, moving up the ladder or changing your current situation, RedStarResume have all the resources to help improve your chances of success. http://www.redstarresume.com/

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Big Corporation v Small Business … Where would you rather work?

How Far Back Should Your Resume Go?

I recently came across a resume that listed a summer cashier position in 1976 as part of a person’s “professional experience.” While it may seem a little strange or ridiculous to include an irrelevant position from nearly 25 years ago, I can tell you that it’s actually not that uncommon to come across something like this. A lot of people think that they literally need to include everything they’ve ever been involved with on their resumes, and I can assure you that not only do you not have to follow suit, you also don’t really need to go back any longer than 10 years.

The main goal of your resume should be to impress the reader with the specific qualifications and experiences that make you fit to be hired for a desired position. That being said, the reader is most interested in what you have done recently, not in what you did over 10 years ago. The bulk of your resume should be devoted to the last few years of your working history – this is what potential employers want to know about.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably held a number of jobs over time if you include the part-time and casual positions. If wrote a little bit about each one of these, your resume would probably near the 4 page mark on experience alone. Considering it shouldn’t be longer than 2 pages, this is far from ideal.

When it comes to listing your professional experiences, stick to the most recent and relevant positions. There is no need to include everything, and writing about too much will sometimes blur your positions together and detract from your real qualifications. Unless you’ve held the same position for over 10 years, there is really no reason to go back any longer than this, and employers don’t even expect to go back that far on your resume anyway. If you do have quite an extensive work history of relevant positions, focus on the most recent ones and then simply list the earlier positions under a new category for “previous or other employment.”

Just remember that there is such a thing as “too much” on a resume. Focus on what the hiring manager wants to see, not on how much information you can cram onto it.

© RedStarResume Publications

Laura is the Marketing Coordinator for RedStarResume, a business that provides resume and cover letter writing services for students, graduates and young professionals. http://www.redstarresume.com Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RedStarResume

Annoying Interview Questions