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9 Google Search Strategies to Boost Your Online Job Search

Search BarGoogle, being to go-to resource for all information these days, is also an excellent place to start your job search. The strength of Google is your ability to search for people, companies, recruiters, information and resources locally. It also allows you to search in complicated ways, using combinations of keywords.

Some tips:

1. Specify the search location: mention a province, city or even postal code.

2. Combine terms; use quotation marks around or add a plus sign (+) between words which you want to search together:

  • If you write Accounting Clerk Jobs into your search, you will get results for each of those words, separately and together, getting results for Accounting, and results for Clerk, as well as results for Accounting Clerk.
  • If you write “Accounting Clerk” jobs (or Accounting+Clerk) you will get jobs only where Accounting Clerk is mentioned.

3. Eliminate certain terms; include a minus (–) directly in front of the word to keep certain terms out of the search:

  • Accounting -Manager jobs to exclude the term Manager

4. Separate or combine searches; use EITHER and OR (in all caps) to get results to:

  • combine terms (Toronto AND Markham), or
  • separate them (Toronto OR Vancouver)

5. Be specific; choose your job titles with care, using all the different keywords that might be relevant to your search:

  • Various job titles, such as: Accounting Clerk, Bookkeeping Clerk, Bookkeeper, Accounts Payable Clerk
  • Specific skills that are unique to your field, such as: Excel jobs, Simply Accounting jobs
  • Special knowledge that you might have, such as Accounting Spanish jobs

6. Figure out all of the terms; use a wild card search, substituting an asterisk (*) for unknown terms or parts of a term:

  • Account* (with the asterisk directly after the word) could result in searches for Accounting, Accountant and Accounts
  • Account * (with a space between the asterisk and the word) could result in searches for Account Clerk, Account Manager and Account Executive

7. Search for synonyms; add a tilde (~) directly before the word, to find similar terms:

  • ~Accounting Jobs could result in searches for Bookkeeping jobs or Finance jobs

8. Search within particular websites; add site: and the name of the site, to find a term within a particular website (such as a company site):

  • Accounting site:jvstoronto.org will result in any parts of the jvstoronto.org website where the term Accounting is mentioned.

Another useful service provided by Google are the Google Alerts, which notify you by email every time your search terms appear. Set up alerts for people, companies and/or job titles in certain locations. You will be able to customize how often you get the alerts and the types of websites you want to search. This might result in you finding out about positions before they appear on the aggregating sites (such as Indeed.ca).

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Ask the Employment Specialist: Do I Have a Professional “Best Before Date”?

Drawing of a typewriter with the words "Dear Employment Specialist"Dear Joanna,

I have been encouraged by a colleague to keep current by to obtaining a professional designation and participating in professional development training programs that are related to my career. I have not participated in any learning opportunities for many years, due to my time and budget constraints. Also, this is not required by my manager or agency, so I haven’t really made the effort to do so. My colleague warned me that in this unstable and knowledge-based economy it is critical that I keep my skills, experiences and education relevant and up-to-date.

Is there such a situation as having a professional expiry date?

Signed: Expired?

[Read more…]

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Find a Job in 2015: New Year’s Resolutions for Job Seekers

As we face the new year, it’s always useful to take some time to look back and evaluate, so that you can look forward and plan. The ever-changing nature of the labour market means that job seekers have to constantly ensure that they are tackling the job search process in the most up-to-date and effective way.

So, how has job search changed in recent years, and where is it headed in 2015?

The labour market is changing.

Job growth has been reported and is expected to continue in Canada in 2015, with 11 percent of companies reporting plans to hire in the new year, according to a Manpower Group Canada report.

The Manpower report found anticipated job growth in all 10 sectors of the economy, in the following order of strength:

  • Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
  • Manufacturing − Durables (defined by StatsCan as products made of Wood and Metal, as well as Machinery, Computers and Electronics, Electrical Equipment, Appliances and Components, Transportation Equipment and related)
  • Public Administration
  • Construction
  • Transportation and Public Utilities

Weaker hiring projections were reported by employers in the following sectors:

  • Services
  • Wholesale and Retail
  • Education
  • Manufacturing − Non-durables (products such as Food, Textiles and Clothing, Paper and Printing, Petroleum and Coal, Chemicals and Plastics and Rubber)
  • Mining

So, if you are thinking of a career change or considering new targets for your job search, consider focusing on the areas where growth is anticipated. Remember that these sectors hire a range of professionals, including Customer Service, Administrators, Project Managers, Finance and Sales, as well as experts in each of those sectors.

Job search is more competitive.

As optimism about the job market grows, more job seekers will return to looking for work. This means greater competition. In order to be noticed and have an opportunity to be considered for employment, job seekers need to be conducting the most effective job search possible.

Be prepared for digitization of hiring. One trend in hiring is employers’ increased reliance on Electronic Tracking Systems (ATS), which processes all applications through a computerized, standardized process, favouring certain keywords.

Mobile recruiting is becoming more popular — recruiters, employers and job boards are increasingly using mobile apps. Indeed Canada is a good example; even the Government of Canada’s Job Bank has developed a mobile app for job seekers.

But, as recruiting becomes less personal, concerns have been expressed that good candidates (up to 75 percent, reportedly) are being missed by employers. Ironically, to overcome this, it may be worth resorting to old-fashioned job search methods, such as setting out to meet employers in person, rather than relying on the passive online job search used by most other job seekers. Furthermore, you would do better targeting your job search — identify your top ten list of employers and go after them directly.

Social media continues to grow.

Employers are continually working on improving their social media strategies both for marketing and recruiting, using tools such as LinkedIn and other social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube). With the increased hiring anticipated in the market, we can assume that this trend will continue, as it has consistently in previous years. Jobvite, in its annual Social Recruiting Survey, found that 73 percent of recruiters intend to engage in social recruiting. Interestingly, they found that despite the fact that most (83%) job seekers turn to Facebook , LinkedIn remains recruiters’ top tool, with 94% using it for recruiting.

Employers also reported to Jobvite that they are scouring through candidates social media profiles, looking for information about candidates’ professional experience, length of professional tenure, industry-related posts, mutual connections, specific hard skills, cultural fit, as well as examples of written/design work.

What does this mean for job seekers?

  • Review your social media presence — look at all your online profiles as they would be perceived through the eyes of an employer
  • Make sure that your LinkedIn profile includes all the relevant experience you need, as well as showcasing your connections in the field, your hard skills and samples of your work
  • Review other profiles such as Facebook (66% of employers will check your profile). Make sure that it presents you well — as a thoughtful and interesting potential employee. Consider sharing posts publicly that showcase your professional and community interests and involvement.

2015 is promising to be an exciting year for job seekers. Make sure to face it with a clear plan, confidence and renewed energy.

We wish all our readers a happy and successful new year, and thank you for your support.

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Ask the Employment Specialist: Make the Best of Your Mentorship

Drawing of a typewriter with the words "Dear Employment Specialist"Dear Joanna

I have just arrived to Canada, leaving behind a successful career in my former country as an experienced software engineer. I’ve been referred to JVS’s TRIEC Mentoring Partnership program and have been matched with a mentor in my field at a large telecommunication company. I am very excited to meet my mentor and hopefully he will help to guide me in finding work in my field and to start building my career here.

Please can you provide me with some suggestions on how to be an effective mentee.

Signed: How To Be An Effective Mentee

Dear Mentee,

Welcome to Canada! It is great news that you have already been matched with a professional in your field who is working in the local labour market. I cannot think of a better way for you to learn all about the IT business here in Canada, the workplace culture, self-marketing , accreditation, training opportunities, improve your communication skills, and start building your professional network. Your mentor could be a professional contact for life!

Patricia Houghton, the Mentoring Partnership Mentoring Coach at JVS Toronto recommends the following strategies to maximize your relationship with your mentor so that you both can benefit:

1. Make a time commitment.

In your first meeting, speak with your mentor about their preferred times and locations for meetings and means of communication. You should decide on the logistics of the relationship to avoid lost time and momentum in the relationship. Use tools like Outlook to book your mentoring meeting schedule in advance. It’s a great way to organize this professional relationship.

If you cannot meet in person, or have to cancel, then use the phone or emails to communication instead of the face-to-face. It does however help to have as much time in person as possible. And, if you have to cancel, try to do so in advance. Check in regularly with your mentor on your job search progress. This helps keep the mentor motivated and engaged as well as build trust.

2. Set and clarify your goals.

At the beginning, you will have an opportunity to set your mentoring goals in writing. Make sure you are both in agreement on the goals and actions. This is a business and professional relationship. It should be a contract. Each time you check in together, review the goals and their status. Make sure there is movement and that you both understand the goals and have implemented the advice and strategies that were recommended. It’s important that you are both satisfied with the relationship.

3. Take initiative.

The mentor can benefit from the wisdom of experience, skills and expertise that you bring to the table. Although you have a wealth of experience, be sure to keep humble and be open to always strive to learn, grow and improve. Taking initiative as much as possible is very impressive to any mentor. Share what you learn with your mentor especially if there is relevant information and knowledge that they might like to know. Use social media to follow the mentor’s company and profile on Twitter and LinkedIn, if they have one. Join their LinkedIn groups, as well.

4. Get to know the coaching resources.

There is an abundance of resources for mentees and on related topics, such as coaching, advising, consulting and mentoring. All of this is available through your mentor coach, the service agency partner, and the online Mentorship Handbook.

Check-in with your coach on a regular basis to discuss any specific relationship needs to help you achieve your goals. Your mentoring coach can help you identify and access this material and community resources to support the goals. For example, if you have business writing or pronunciation challenges, your coach can refer you to classes on these topics, as well as courses such as JVS Toronto’s occupational-specific Enhanced Language Training for Internationally Trained Individuals.

Best wishes on your new career path in your new country, Mentee. You’re off to a great start!

Joanna

JVS Toronto

For general inquiries, contact:
T: 416-787-1151
E: [email protected]

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