The hiring process is long and detailed for both job seekers and employers. Generally, employers go through seven steps in hiring an employee:

• Decide the responsibilities of the job and the qualifications needed to fill it
• Advertise the job opening
• Read and evaluate résumés and letters of applications
• Have candidates complete application forms
• Request further proof of candidates skills (letters of recommendation, transcripts)
• Interview selected candidates
• Offer the job to the best-qualified individual

Job seekers go through seven steps:

• Analyze strengths and restrict search
• Look in the right places
• Construct a résumé
• Write a letter of application
• Fill out job application
• Go to an interview
• Accept or decline a job offer

Analyzing Your Strengths and Restricting Your Job Search

Before you apply for jobs, analyze your job skills, career goals, and interests. To find the right job to search for, follow these guidelines:  (1) Make an inventory of your strengths and accomplishments. (2) Decide which specialty within your chosen career appeals to you most. (3) Determine the most rewarding prospects of a job in your profession. (What most interests you about a particular positiontravel? helping people? being creative?) (4) Avoid applying for positions for which you are overqualified or underqualified. (5) Take advantage of career counseling at your school or state employment agency, or read books on making career choices. (6) Check with federal, state, and local employment offices.

Looking in the Right Places for a Job

To determine which companies have job openings and to find out about their application procedures and deadlines, try networking, looking on the Internet, in newspapers, in professional or trade journals, and in your college placement office. Make use of personal contacts to find out about job openings. You can also check with the personnel departments of companies or agencies where youd like to work, your local Chamber of Commerce, and recruiters at employment agencies (a last resort, since they charge a fee). You might also place your résumé with a résumé database service.

Preparing a Résumé

Also called a data sheet or curriculum vitae, the résumé is probably the most important document in anyones job search. A résumé should be a record of results that shows a prospective employer you have what it takes to do the job well. It should be attractive, carefully organized, correct, current, and relevant.

To get started writing your résumé, ask yourself where you excel. Brainstorm a list of your strengths and accomplishments. Then scrutinize this list, crossing off repetitions and irrelevant items. Next, translate the remaining items into action-packed selling clauses.  Be sure to balance your education and experience appropriately on your résumé. Exclude salary expectations, reasons for leaving your last job, disabilities, physical characteristics, preferences for work schedules, travel restrictions, and your photograph (unless applying for a modeling or acting job).

The parts of a résumé include your name, address, and phone number; your career objective statement; your education and experience; personal information (optional); and references. If you have lots of work experience, list it first, before education. Organize your experience chronologically, starting with your most recent job first, or by function or skill area, emphasizing your most relevant experience first. A functional, or skills-centered, résumé can help fill in gaps in education or employment and better emphasizes general skills acquired over long periods of time than does a chronological résumé. It does not force the job seeker to emphasize the most recent experience first at the expense of more pertinent earlier experience.

On-line résumés require special formatting. They should be highly readable and easy to scroll, without bullets, underlining, fancy scripts, or logos. Instead of action verbs and selling clauses, use nouns (key words) in an online résumé to describe your experience.

A résumé should be pleasingly formatted. A crowded résumé suggests that you cannot summarize; too much blank space indicates lack of achievements. Use 10 or 12 point type and use boldface or italics to separate and highlight information. Dont overuse visual effects. Print your résumé on high-quality bond. Always send an original, not a photocopy. Finally, proofread your résumé carefully; errors or inconsistencies on a résumé can be ruinous.

Writing a Letter of Application

Letters of application should be personable, professional, and persuasive. A letter of application is much more personal than a résumé, since you will write a new, original letter to each prospective employer. Never send a photocopied letter of application, and dont just repeat the details on your résumé.

 (1) Follow the standard conventions of letter writing discussed in Chapter 5. (2) Make sure your letter looks attractive. (3) Send your letter to a specific person. Never address a letter of application To whom it may concern or Dear Sir or Madam.  (4) Dont forget the you attitude. Approach your qualifications in terms of how they are valuable to the prospective employer. (5) Strive for brevity and clarity. (6) Dont send out your first draft. Write and rewrite your letter until it presents you in the best possible light.

In the opening paragraph, state why you are writing, where you learned of the company or job, and your most important qualification for the job. Avoid an unconventional or arrogant opening, and dont begin with a question. In the body of your letter, provide evidence that you are qualified for the job. Keep your paragraphs short and readable. Dont boast. Highlight your qualifications by citing specific accomplishments. Make your closing paragraph shorttwo or three sentences. Emphasize again your major qualifications, ask for an interview or phone call, and indicate when you are available for an interview. Dont be pushy, too informal, or too humble in your closing.

Filling Out a Job Application

The information an employer asks for on an application form will overlap with what you have provided on your résumé, but never just attach a copy of your résumé to a blank application form. Employers want you to fill out their own forms. Some forms ask applicants to give reasons for leaving pervious jobs or to write a personal essay stating why the company should hire them. These require tact and thought. If you were fired from a previous job, dont just state that fact. Provide additional informationyour company was downsized and you were laid off, your company merged and your department was eliminated, and so on.

Going to an Interview

Be prepared for the typical questions interviewers ask, such as Why do you want to work for us?  What is your greatest strength? and What is your greatest shortcoming? Be honest when asked about your shortcomings, but emphasize how you are improving. Saying you have no shortcomings is as inadvisable as saying I hate being criticized or I cant ever seem to finish what I start.

Be on time (about fifteen minutes early), go to the interview alone, dress appropriately, greet your interviewer and thank him or her for inviting you to discuss your qualifications, speak slowly and distinctly, dont smoke or chew gum, look confident but not smug, maintain eye contact with the interviewer, sit up straight, and thank the interviewer when the interview is over. Within a week, send a follow-up letter thanking the interviewer for his or her time.