For the fresh graduates, the unemployed, or even those looking out for greener pastures, you might have combed through several online job portals and listed out a few potential vacancies to apply for. However, the proliferation of online job portals and recruitment services mean that it is more challenging for job seekers to get the employer’s/recruiter’s attention. With this challenge in mind, how can you ensure that your resume and job application will grant you a more successful online job hunt? Let’s run through these 5 tips before you hit that ‘Apply Now’ button:

1: Make sure your email address is valid

Other than your phone number, your email address will be the employer’s/recruiter’s main point of contact with you. Check your email junk filter settings and allow the job portal’s domain to be sent to your main inbox. You should also try asking a friend to send a test email to you, just to be sure that you’re (virtually) contactable.

2: Update your resume

Your resume will be the first document that employers will browse through before contacting you. As such, it is important to make a good impression and catch the attention of an employer by making sure that your resume is relevant and well updated with your most recent working experience, training and education information.

3: Customise your resume

Always keep in mind that for every job vacancy, there is a specific set of competencies, experience and achievements that employers and recruiters are looking out for. To increase your chances of getting shortlisted, remember to customise your resume so it contains the right mix of information for the job you are applying for. Once you are done with the resume customisation, upload a copy of it to the job portal.

4: Allow email notifications for job alerts and job application alerts

Unless you intend to stay logged in to the job portal to keep abreast with your job application status, it would probably be better to let the job portals to notify you of any recent updates. You can also take advantage of email notifications to help you monitor any recent hiring activities of a particular industry/company that you are interested in.

5: Sign up for workshops that teach job portal navigation and resume customisation

While you may have equipped yourself with the most updated and a well-customised resume, you might want to have it checked by a professional trainer, and learn more tips and techniques that will improve your online job applications.

e2i conducts Successful Online Job Search, which teaches participants how to leverage on job search portals. In addition, participants get on-the-spot resume writing and resume customisation advice from aprofessional trainer before submitting their online job applications. To find out more about Successful Online Job Search and to register, click here.