Why Some Seniors Flunk Online Job Searching

No luck finding a job on the Internet? You may be going about the process all wrong. Employers say many online job seekers make mistakes that impede their chances of landing interviews.

In the current tight job market, which allows employers to "cherry-pick" candidates, your online job-search strategy must be impeccable. To boost your electronic search I.Q., peruse the following list of common bloopers and flawed strategies. Learning what to avoid may help you to search with less stress -- and greater effectiveness.

1. Not using key words. Your resume may be overlooked by employers if you fail to include the exact words from the job ad, says Jon Downs, vice president of human resources for Toll Brothers Inc., a national home-building firm based in Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Many companies use resume-scanning software to locate applicants who match the skills required for a particular position, he says. For instance, to fill a construction-manager job, Downs searches for applicants whose resumes include the words "construction," "manager" and the name of the city where the job is located. This strategy helps him comb through the approximately 60,000 resumes his firm receives annually.

   Take a tip from Seattle University senior Erick Roane. For every job he seeks, he tailors his resume to mimic the words used in job ads. "If an employer is seeking a team player with excellent communications skills, then I use those words -- 'excellent,' 'communications' and 'skills,' " he says. Roane also uses the information in job ads to shorten his resume whenever possible. "If a job requires knowledge of a certain type of hardware, I don't write an explanation about what it is. I think it's safe to assume the employer already knows," he says.

2. Ignoring job descriptions. Most help-wanted ads contain the information needed to determine if a position is a good match for you, yet many candidates who don't fit ignore the descriptions, says Kristen Koppen, principal of Koppen & Associates LLC, an executive-search firm in St. Louis, Mo. "Some people just apply to jobs because they see a company name or job title that sounds interesting," she says. "But they may not even be qualified or want those jobs," she says. For instance, Koppen recently scanned an application from a candidate in Seattle seeking a job in Portland, Ore. "His cover letter says he's not willing to relocate," she says.

   Joseph Broda, art director at New Jersey Monthly magazine in Morristown, N.J., reports similar candidate miscues. He recently placed an ad for an assistant that notes it pays an annual salary of $25,000. "One candidate wrote that he requires a salary of between $45,000 and $60,000. [Not paying attention to the ad] tells me a lot about a person," he says.

   In other instances, candidates fail to follow a job ad's instructions, says Scott Byrnes, director of health-care recruiting for human-resources management firm Sheila Greco Associates LLC in Amsterdam, N.Y. "I can't tell you how many people e-mail me cover letters that start with 'Dear Sheila' when applying to an ad that clearly states my contact information...That tells me the candidate didn't invest the time to carefully read the ad."

   Further, job seekers frequently fail to include reference codes that some job ads require, says Byrnes. Large firms often have many openings, so follow directions if their ads ask you to include codes for your target position in the e-mail's subject line or in your cover letter or resume, he says.

3. Snubbing online applications. Even if the printed version of your resume is more attractive than what you type into online applications, don't ignore employers' requests to enter your data into an online template, says Christy Conrad, assistant vice president of public relations for Enterprise Rent-A-Car in St. Louis. "Online applications often seek additional information that might not be on a resume," she says. "If you e-mail your application, you might be missing critical questions about yourself." For instance, Enterprise's online application has a section called "Work Styles" that asks candidates to choose responses to questions about how they handled various job-related situations.

4. Cutting-and-pasting carelessly. Be painstaking when filling out online job applications. For example, don't paste your work history into a section on education in an online application. This shows that you didn't read the instructions carefully, says Byrnes. "Job sites vary from company to company, so you can't just mechanically cut and paste parts of your resume without looking closely at what's being asked of you," he says.

5. Over-applying. Click "send" once and stop, says Downs. Completing online job applications or e-mailing resumes multiple times can give recruiters a bad impression. One student who wanted a job as an assistant project manager e-mailed 70 resumes to the firm -- one to every senior manager. "We felt like he was doing that to a lot of companies. It was a real turn-off," he says.

6. E-mailing attachments. Many employers can't be bothered to open attachments or are leery of doing so for fear of getting a computer virus. For this reason, Marcie Krastman, a senior at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., pastes her resume into the e-mails she sends recruiters. She also includes her resume as a Microsoft Word attachment. "I send my resume both ways just in case the recipient uses a different editing program and can't open it," says the psychology major.

   Including a resume in the body of an e-mail helps hiring managers such as Broda quickly scan resumes. Since his computer doesn't have Microsoft Word, he can't open Word documents. "I have to go to another computer to read it, and that's just a pain," he says. In the want-ad Broda placed online for an assistant, there's a warning to applicants to not send attachments, yet many have done so anyway. "I may still read their resumes, but if I'm on the fence about a candidate, something like [not following instructions] may push me to disqualify the person," he says.

   If employers welcome attachments, be careful to send the right file. "An applicant once sent an e-mail with a college English paper attached to it," says Gerry Murray, vice president of human resources at Kay-Bee Toys Inc., a toy manufacturer in Pittsfield, Mass. "I assume she meant to send her resume, but that's what we got."

7. Using an unprofessional e-mail address. Don't include a racy or silly e-mail moniker as your contact address. "Your address should be professional with just a name or number," says Conrad. Murray cites the unsuccessful applicant who used "SergeantPepper2000" as an example.

8. Linking to personal Web sites. Many candidates have posted their resumes on personal Web sites. Don't tell employers to visit your site to read your resume, says Scott Simon, president of Adatech, a recruitment firm based in Birmingham, Ala. "I don't want to have to work to get your information," he says.

   Some Web-savvy job applicants also encourage employers to visit personal pages of their Web sites. This makes them seem unprofessional, says Marjorie Brody, president of Brody Communications, a career-coaching firm in Jenkintown, Pa. "I once got a resume from a candidate who included a link to a site that showed pictures of him water-skiing and hanging out with friends," she says. "It's all right to include a link to a professional site, but not one full of goofy pictures."

9. Relying on electronic resume-distribution services. Using these so-called "blasters" to contact hundreds of recruiters is about as useful as taking miracle weight-loss products, says Byrnes. "Resume-distribution services are totally ineffective because what they're really doing is sending unsolicited e-mails or spam," he says. "Most recruiters delete them from their in-boxes and never even look at them." In addition, candidates' resumes may be sent to employers they wouldn't fit or for jobs they wouldn't want, he says.

10. Overlooking niche job sites. Large generic job sites, such as Monster.com, aren't the only ones employers use to find candidates. Niche sites run by professional groups and associations are popular as well because advertising on them is less expensive, says Byrnes. Further, employers can target a specific group of applicants. "They're in touch with what's going on in their industry," he adds. "When I get resumes from candidates for jobs on niche sites, there's no question that they're going to be qualified."

Sarah E. Needleman is associate editor at CollegeJournal.com.