Developing and maintaining an online presence is becoming more important as employers rely on online background checks to research candidates.  This is why it’s a good idea to create your own blog.  Blogs are a great technique for building your brand and enhancing your job search as a whole.  But if you’re unsure that it will work for you, here are three reasons to place it on your list of considerations:

1. You Have the Opportunity to Grow and Share Your Expertise

As your wealth of knowledge in your field grows, it’s great to share it with others.  By creating a blog, you have the opportunity to do this on a large scale.  Even better is that, as you share, you get to research the topic, which helps you learn even more.  And you get to receive input from others who know even more than you, helping you to continue to broaden your horizons.

2. You Get the Opportunity to Network With Others

Networking is not just a plus when conducting a job search; it is oftentimes a necessity.  This is why blogging is so beneficial.  As you take time to write on industry-related topics and draw an audience, you get to interact with others in your field.  This gives you the opportunity to build your arsenal of professional connections so that, in the future, you may be able to swap opportunities that can be helpful for everyone.

3. Building Your Resume Becomes Easier

Oftentimes, it can be difficult to find various aspects of our professional lives that are impressive enough to add to our resumes.  But by starting an industry-related blog, you not only have additional information to include, you actually get to show that you are so dedicated to the field that you are willing to discuss it outside of the traditional work environment.

Keep in mind that it’s a good idea to include the actual link to your blog—in addition to its name—when adding it to your resume.  This will help the employer easily locate your Web site.

It’s easy for people to think that blogging is not beneficial to a job search because so many people can start their own without having a professional background.  But there are many blogs being written by well-respected professionals—so why not try it too?  You might be surprised by how well it enhances your job search efforts.

For additional tips and advice on resumes and cover letters, follow us on Twitter @GreatResume or visit our blog.

Sometimes, it’s that you need to make a few small tweaks to your resume—and other times, you need to completely overhaul your job search.  If you’re not getting any callbacks, there’s a good chance that you fall into the latter category.  So what can you do about it?

1. Clean Up Your Resume

Since your resume, aside from your application, is generally the first thing a company sees, taking steps to clean it up is a great starting place.  Look over your resume to ensure that there are no obvious errors like misspelled words, grammar or punctuation issues, or typos.  Then make sure that your font sizes and types are uniform.

After that, it’s good to make sure that you have created a fantastic headline/job target for your resume, along with a great career summary that highlights your best professional moments to date.  Also, don’t forget to use plenty of industry-geared keywords in your resume, and list all of your best qualities as close to the top of your resume (and within each section of the document) as possible.

2. Refocus Your Search

If you’re not getting any interview calls, and you’re certain that your resume is in good shape, you may need to refocus your search.  Have you been applying for jobs with qualifications that are slightly out of your reach?  Or have you been conducting searches that are simply too broad?

While you may not want to pass up any great opportunities that you run across, it’s probably a good idea to narrow your search; then, also narrow your resume so that it helps you to define who you are as a professional and explains why you’re qualified for one specific job, rather than 13 very different positions within your industry.

3. Build Your Web Professional Presence

If you don’t already have a professional Web presence, now’s the time to get one.  Employers spend much of their time conducting preliminary background checks on job seekers by seeing just how much of a professional Web presence those candidates have.  So take time to build yours by creating a LinkedIn profile and opening a Twitter account based under your name and profession (i.e., @JaneDoeAccountant), and even building an industry-based blog.

Also, be sure to adjust the privacy settings on your personal accounts so that employers can’t readily gain access to not-so-professional information you may have on the Web.  This way, employers can feel confident that inviting you in for an interview is a good idea.

There’s something great about overhauling your job search.  It allows you to fine-tune your resume and review your career aspirations.  So if you’re not getting the calls you want, it’s good to consider this as an option.

For additional tips and advice on resumes and cover letters, follow us on Twitter @GreatResume or visit our blog.

If you’ve ever looked for a job while at work, it’s probably not the smartest move you can make. You don’t have to be an Einsteinian genius to know that looking for work while on the job is a bad move. But, people do it a lot and employers are not oblivious to it. The key is being able to look for a job and keep it on the down low. You don’t want some work place colleague to go back and spill the beans to HR or your boss.

What are some things you can do to continue your job hunting without getting the hook from your boss?

Maintaining productivity

One of the earliest signs of a distracted employee is loss of productivity. Excessive job hunting on the clock can kill productivity and make managers look for replacements before you’ve even found your new job. Managers can monitor computer habits so make sure that your job search stays within an appropriate amount of time. You don’t want to get fired and your work computer is one hundred percent the property of your employer, so be careful when looking for another gig.

Examining repercussions

Even if you do your search at home, make sure you’re using your personal computer. If you use a work related computer, there could be active monitoring software installed, which is completely up to the company. Make sure that nothing you do can be traced back to you. And always remember that US companies have the right to fire an employee for any reason. If they are not just, then why should you be? There are plenty of opportunities out there and all it takes is you applying yourself to get them.

When is it appropriate?

Even if you’re browsing out of casual curiosity, it can send the message that you’re ready to leave your current job. About the only time it is acceptable to look for work while at work is in the event that you have all ready been terminated and you need the time to look for another job. Employees can spend some time job hunting if they’ve already received a notice saying they will be laid off, just don’t abuse the situation. Know the laws in your state and always have a way to fight your employer.

Guest Post by: Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW, BS/HR, is a Certified Professional & Executive Resume Writer/Career Consultant and President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She is a nationally published writer and contributor of 9+ best-selling career books. She has achieved international recognition following yearly nominations of the prestigious T.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award. Erin has written thousands of resumes for executives and professionals. As a proud member of PARW, CDI, AORCP, Erin also sits on CDI’s Credentialing Committee for new certification candidates and serves as a Mentor for CDI’s Member Mentoring Committee. She also is a featured blogger on several well-known career sites.  www.exclusive-executive-resumes.com.

For additional tips and advice on resumes and cover letters, follow us on Twitter @GreatResume or visit our blog.

First of all, unemployment is a temporary status that you are going to change. Don’t be ashamed of that. Many people (especially right now) face some period of unemployment in their careers, and it’s not a big deal. It only takes one phone call, one interview, or one job offer to make the difference.

If you’re changing careers, don’t be afraid of that, either. Internships, job shadowing, learning new skill sets, and the like can feel strange to someone who’s been in the workforce for a while already, but they shouldn’t.

40 is the new 30. You have a lot of years left in the workforce, and you should absolutely be doing something you enjoy, and something that you are compensated for commensurate with what you do for the organization.

I know there is some talk out there about age discrimination, and the idea that companies may be more interested in the “young whippersnappers” than you. Here’s what I want you to know: You didn’t just get here. You are bringing 20 more years of experience to the table than those candidates, and that experience should lead to positive outcomes for the employer. That means that you can do things and think about things differently, and that you can bring more to this job than the hot young whippersnapper, and I want you to have that confidence and develop a way to communicate that to the hiring manager-because you deserve it.

Great Resumes Fast partners with clients everyday who are unemployed, facing age discrimination, and with clients who have worked in an entire industry their entire lives and are now trying to make a change. If this sounds like you call us today at 1.800.991.5187 to find out how our certified resume writers can work with you to immediately impact your job search.

I talked to this woman about the position opening at length, and was surprised to realize that she had barely read the job description before deciding to apply.  She told me about her previous work experience, which was only vaguely related to the requirements of the advertised job.  She was stunned when I told her that the position required managing a department of 10 people, and then it started to sink in that her lack of supervisory experience might hurt her chances of getting the job.  She also mentioned that the opening had asked that applicants have knowledge of a specific online database system.  She then asked me the most surprising question of all: “Do you think they’re really serious about only hiring someone who has experience with that system?”

At this point, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for this woman.  So I will offer you the same advice that I gave her.  There are dozens of candidates applying for most open positions these days.  Hiring managers will tell you that one of their main job duties is “shortlisting” these applications into a small pool of qualified applicants—in other words, disqualifying everyone they can in order to whittle the list down to only the best candidates for each job.  Many times, companies find themselves ruling out perfectly qualified candidates simply because they have too many from which to choose.  With this in mind, please do yourself the favor of not applying for jobs if you’re just not qualified.  Employers purposely write their job descriptions in order to attract candidates who are a good match.  If the ad says they’re looking for X, Y, and Z qualifications, I can guarantee you one thing: Yes, they really mean it!

For more career and job search related articles, visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com.