Use the Internet to Advance Your Reliability Career

Local job markets cannot offer the variety, quality, and quantity of maintenance job opportunities to which you have free access by using the Internet. In addition, resume resources, interviewing tips, and other useful information is plentiful.

Whether you are investigating career advancement or need a new position due to a layoff, the Internet offers excellent resources to kick-start your job search.

The perfect career?
Career planning is the process of finding your ideal career, based on your intrinsic interests, motivational traits, personality, values, skills, aptitudes, personal work style, and work environment preferences.

According to www.perfectcareer.com studies show people who are working in a career that supports their intrinsic interests are happier, and more successful and fulfilled. For $49 the site offers an online career test that examines your career interest, your personality, your values, and your skills.

Allow me to introduce myself
Once you have defined the type of position you seek, it is time to tune up your resume. Sites such as www.free-resume-tips.com offer 10 free tips to enhance your resume. If you are new to writing a resume, www.eresumes.com offers a free Resume 101 course online.

If you really want to stand out from the crowd, try putting your resume on a credit-card-size working CD-ROM. At www.cardiscs.com/bizcardresumes.html you can create a digital resume online by choosing from a wide selection of templates and designs. The company will duplicate the CD and ship them to you.

Posting your resume online
You remember that free 5 MB web site that your Internet Service Provider offered you when you signed? Like most people, you probably asked yourself why you would ever want a personal web site. Posting your resume is a perfect reason.

Most of these sites are template driven and require little computer experience. Once the resume is posted, you can send people to your site by including the link in your e-mail. Remember that the Internet is public, so do not post any personal information that you may not want known such as your home address.

Resume posting sites
If you have ever watched a Super Bowl game, you have seen commercials for some of the best job-hunting sites on the Internet. Free resume posting services are available at www.hotjobs.com, www.flipdog.com, and www.monster.com. Prospective employers pay a fee to be able to scan your resume and almost all major companies include these sites when searching for new employees.

You set the parameters for the amount of personal information that is revealed, including your name. If you currently are employed and your boss does not know you may be seeking alternative employment, it is a good idea to cloak your contact information. If a prospective employer is interested in your skills and experience, you will receive contact from them that will include the company name. Once you know who is interested, you can choose to respond with as much information as you want.

You can and should expect privacy on these sites and you can withdraw your resume at any time.

Join organizations
Joining professional organizations will create networking opportunities that can increase your chance of learning about a position in your area of interest: the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals and the Association for Facilities Engineering.

Interviewing your new employer
Before you establish communication with a company, it is a good idea to visit its corporate web site. You can enter the company name into almost any search engine and the official web site should be in the top two or three results.

You can often access company mission statements and goals, learn more specific information about the company’s products and services, look at its historical financial information, and find out what other positions the firm may be offering.

It also may be useful to search business news sites for stories about your prospective employer. The knowledge you will gain from a little research may really impress your interviewer.

Finding your way
Once you have decided to accept an interview you can make sure you find your way by creating a map and driving directions using www.mapblast.com

Using the Internet to advance your career in maintenance and reliability is a sure way to broaden your horizons and expand your potential. Try it today.

As always, please let us know what you think of this column, how it helped you, and what subjects you would like us to cover in the future. MT