This advise is (as usual) worth what you paid for it, but here are my perceptions about "Looking for a Job".

When I was looking for a job, I sent resume's to EVERY ad listed in the newspaper, whether I was qualified or not. Then I'd go fill out applications at ALL of those places anyway just for good measure. Then I'd go from one company to the one next door and then the one next to that one.

Even if you aren't qualified for a job, sometimes they have something else you can do within their company. The HARDEST PART OF FINDING A JOB IS SHOWING YOUR FACE!

If I can get to someone with hiring authority, I can sell myself to them. I'll use any trick in the book to make sure I eventually get to stand in front of the personnel director (Scuze me, "Director of Human Resources").. If I get that far, I'll get a job.

If I didn't have more than 3 interviews a day, I wasn't trying hard enough... and Lord only knows how many employers shook my hand on Tuesday while telling me they wanted me to start work on Monday... and I'd go straight to the next scheduled interviews, all the rest of the week... Something better would almost ALWAYS come up before Monday.

Keep your resume down to one page... yeah, toot your own horn, but be brief about it... make sure they know that if they want the long version, you can provide it... but keep the initial resume to one page.. If I have a stack of resume's to go through, I don't want to search for the skills I need through 5 pages and deal with paper clips and staples and page turning... One Sheet, just the facts, no muss, no fuss.. He'll have the job cause I actually read his one page right before I threw the other guy's 5 page novel back in the drawer.

It breaks down like this:
* Resume (ONE PAGE, sent out to everyone on earth if possible)

* Apply for every job in the paper... every single one! Even if you aren't qualified.

* Apply ANY PLACE that has employees... Even if they "aren't hiring", fill out an application anyway! I hired the last three employees I had while I "wasn't hiring".

* Get an interview by any means possible, if they call and say "we don't need you", say "Can I come in and talk about why I wasn't selected?" SHOW YOUR FACE!

* Sell yourself at the interview. If you can't sell yourself, you can't sell anything for them... and EVERY job involves selling something (Merchandise, ideas, pretty finished products, dependable products, etc)

* Line up multiple interviews for EVERY SINGLE DAY!

* If you're offered a job, take it! And then keep looking! Go to ALL of the rest of the interviews you scheduled before your start date!

* Quit your vices.. Quit drinking, Smoking, going to movies, watching cable, driving around aimlessly, etc, until you get a job. I've been to the point of having to give my dog away because I couldn't afford to feed him, and I didn't have cable cause I sold the TV first thing (I didn't need to be watching TV anyway, I needed to be working or looking for work).

* Word Of Mouth... Ask everyone you know about any possible jobs. MOST jobs are gotten by word of mouth referrals.

* Bug The crap out of the company until you get an interview... Call every place you applied to every day and ask about the status of your application.. be polite, but ask every day... Employers know the trick and they either hire you or interview you just to shut you up.

* Ask Each personnel Director about other jobs elsewhere! They all talk to each other... They refer good employees they can't hire to their friend's companies (and sometimes get a finders fee) just as often as they steal desirable employees from their friend's companies.

* Make your last job Speak for you. When an employer calls your last job you want your boss to rave about you.. You want him to let the new place know that he hates life and beats his kids because he couldn't hang on to you. If HE wants you, THEY want you!

* NEVER leave one job without having another lined up! It's MUCH easier to get a job when you have a job. Employers know that good folks ALWAYS have "standing offers" from other companies.. In their minds, if you aren't working, there's a reason why.

* NEVER talk about your divorce, your kids' failing grades, your bad luck, or ANYTHING negative... don't even hint at it. ALL of the above can make an employer think you are unstable and trouble follows you... When you get your interview, your life is a perfect bowl of roses (Other than you really want a job with THEIR company and don't have it yet!) Stable, never any trouble, my sainted grandmother loves me and yours would too!

* Research the Company Employers hear the same $}{!t 20 times a day "I'm a self starter, I'm motivated, I'm dependable, blah blah blah blah"... But toss in something like "Your company's stock performance last quarter was impressive... I think the way you sold product XYZ made the difference"... and you have the job.

* Hit ALL of the online Job services. And use ALL of your Contacts and Networking skills/assets!

* SMILE!

* Consider the WHOLE USA as your "Job Search Area." (Even better if you can think of the whole World that way). Fill out applications in surrounding states, ESPECIALLY if you know there's no work in your area.. GET OUT!
I know, "Family, friends, kids, blah blah" If you stay, those folks can watch you starve in person, that's about the only way to look at it.

 Get motivated!!!! Get out there!!! Interview all day! Scour papers and the internet all night! Stuff envelopes with resumes! You don't have time for a 12 pack, you've got a job to find and you won't find a single job ad on the lid of those cans. A 12 pack buys a lot of envelopes, paper and stamps.... get your printer working for you!

 GOOD LUCK! GET MOVING!
Warlord