Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Considering the tough competition of the job market, jobseekers need to be smart enough to perform their job search smoothly. A slow start to your job search may increase the period of unemployment. Many times, jobseekers also get stuck with their job hunting process. While searching for jobs, it is important to save time and speed up the process of finding jobs as much as possible.

To expedite the process of job hunt, you need to be equipped with some essential pieces of advice. Given below are eight essential tips to help you.

#1. Get Prepared

If you are starting a job search, you need to set up a couple of things. Make sure you are ready with a professional email address, a telephone answering machine or voice messaging system. Always remember to put your cellular phone number in the job resume, so that you are easily contactable by the employers. There are various job search toolkits available online as well to prepare yourself for searching jobs.

#2. Keep Your Resume Up-to-date

Nothing can be more frustrating than not having an up-to-date resume when it comes to finding a new job. You never know when an opportunity will strike. So, you should always keep your resume current and updated. Continue including new skills and experience in your resume as soon as your acquire them.

#3. Keep Templates Ready to Edit

Have multiple copies of your job resume and cover letter ready to edit. If you are ready with the templates, you can immediately tailor the same according to the job application requirements. You won’t need to change the contact information, opening and closing paragraphs for applying to different job positions. Rest of the content can be optimized according to the requirements.

#4. Use Job Search Engines

There are plenty of useful job search engines available on the internet. There are many job search engines that are global while there are other job boards that are regional. Prepare a list of all the major job boards, company websites and associations that you want to use. Use a number of job search engines and job banks to speed up the process of searching jobs.

#5. Let Job Information Come to You

There are several job banks and job sites that will send you job listings by email. Find out such job search agents that can send you current job information. There are various websites that specialize in sending job opening announcement to jobseekers. This step is very useful for speeding up the process of job hunting.

#6. Time Saver Tips

If you want to speed up the process even more, you can take help from resume writing and resume editing services online. There are plenty of online resume posting services that can immediately post your job resume to multiple job boards at one. This can save you ample time.

#7. Keep Your References Ready

Another most important job search tip is to be ready with the references that you want to include in your resume or want to send to the interviewers. Make sure you have complete informational details of the references you want to send. While creating the list of references, remember to include their full name, job title, company name, phone number and email address where they can be contacted.

#8. Leverage Your Network

Jobseekers should be advised that not all job vacancies are advertised. Most of the job openings are filled through networking. Ensure that everyone in your professional networking loop is aware that you are searching for a job. Ask your contacts if they can provide your some valuable job information. Keep expanding your professional network as well.

James Tomerson writes regularly on career, education and latest job trends. To read more from him, you can visit Jobdiagnosis.com, which also offers jobseekers a free career test to choose a career which is in tune with their career, aptitude and skills.

The first placement I made as a recruiter – the first time I successfully helped a person find a job with one of our clients – was for a Director-level position with a major bank that was in the process of setting up their IT security division.

The best part was that the job didn’t even officially exist.

When I started speaking with the candidate about the job… well, I couldn’t really talk about the job because “the job” didn’t exist. It hadn’t actually been created. All we knew was that the person I was speaking with would be someone who the bank would be interested to meet.

Basically what happened was that one of my colleagues had just started working with a hiring manager who was responsible for building a new security division for the bank he was employed by. Back in 2000 when this story took place, IT security professionals who held a certification called the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) were in high demand and limited supply.

I had been referred to a guy who not only held his CISSP and was an experienced IT security professional but was starting to think about looking for a new job but wanted a senior level position that would be a good move for him and for his family.

While it took a bit of convincing that he should go over to the bank and meet with the hiring manager for a job that didn’t actually exist, he agreed to do so and the initial meeting went well.

For the second and subsequent interviews, it was agreed between the hiring manager and my candidate that the two would put a job together that met the company’s requirements and that also met my candidate’s requirements and thus, a position was created that he accepted. He started with the company about 5 weeks after the first time I’d spoken with him regarding the opportunity with the bank.

Another example I can think of – this can happen quite frequently actually – was when I sent a candidate out to interview for a job with one of my clients but where both the client and candidate ended up agreeing that the job was not a good match. Instead, the company created a new position for this person that would make use of some of the skills he had that other candidates they’d interviewed did not have.

In the first case, my candidate was hesitant to go interview for a job that didn’t exist and where no job description existed. In the second case, my candidate understood ahead of time that he didn’t have all the skills the client was looking for but was still willing on my suggestion to interview for the job and ended up getting a job more suited to his abilities.

What does this mean to you?

While you want to apply for jobs that fit your profile and interests, don’t be so quick to turn down the opportunity to interview for a job that on the surface may not be exactly what you are looking for. It might not lead to something else but in the two cases I mentioned above, it certainly did.