Looking for a new job

How to get an interview.

Most of the time people will look for a job by opening the classifieds or getting on the internet to look for a job. While these ways work and I myself have done it this way too, there is another way few try. When the classifieds don't seem to be working and the online jobs a just bunk. The best thing you can do is open the phonebook. Yes, thats right the phonebook and look in the yellow pages at businesses that you would like to work for, once you find a good one call them. Yikes! Trust me, give them a call and ask the person that answers the phone "Hi, my name is ------ can you tell me the person that is in charge of hiring?" Nearly everytime they will give you the name without a second thought. The reason for this is, once you have the name you can roll into that business, dress properly of course, and ask for them by name. "Hello I'm here to see -------!" They will then go and get him or her and there you have it, they can see you, and smell you. Rather than just look at a piece of paper and wonder what type of person you are, even if they aren't hiring at the moment, you will be etched in their minds if a position becomes available. Be sure to leave you resume with them, so that they can get a hold of you.

Thank you letter

Send a thank you letter by fax or e-mail to the hiring official to let them know you thank them for the time they took to speak with you. The perosn that you know that they didn't have to take time from their day to speak with you. The thank you letter should be sent a day after the visit. This works in your favor also because they will file that away in their minds also. The thank you letter is also important when you have actually been granted an interview, even if you feel you have bombed it, many people do not send thank you letters after an interview. These thank you letters can significantly bump you up the hire list of the employer.

Can the new employer contact the current one.

The best way to approach this is to tell the possible new employer that they may contact your current employer. Most of the time they won't contact them if you are still employed with someone. They understand the dynamic and won't want to ruffle any feathers. Most of the time its a good thing to tell them they can because 9 times out of ten they won't call. You have to understand the dynamics of an interview first. An interviews soul purpose is to get to know you as a person. To see in you are someone they could work with and look at everyday for the next 2 to 30 years, you know, be presentable, comb your hair brush your teeth. Wear something nice. Whether or not they can contact your employer is a non-factor because like I said, most don't do it because it holds no value to the interview process. Another one for free is allowing someone to contact a former employer when you left on bad terms, let them because it shows you have nothing to hide. As a manager I would rather be told I can contact a former employer. I almost never will either if they say I can contact them. Another facet, is that former employers should never speak wrongly of a former employee even if the statements are true. It is wrong to do so and they can be sued for defamation. When future employers do contact a former employer the future employer normally sticks to a script. For example, a future employer may ask a former employer "On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest. How would you rate John's work ethic!" Most of the time you will find that even if you left your former employer on bad terms, they will answer questions like this truthfully without letting one situation ruin the whole stint you had with the former employer.