How I Learned to Leverage Online Job Search Tools

How I Learned to Leverage Online Job Search Tools
Ever considered being a sales consultant? This interview from JustJobs.com will take you through the ups and downs you can expect in the position, what it takes to land the job, what you can expect to earn and more. This sales expert suggests how to be well prepared and informed whenever one needs to deal with a new type of job interview. I work as a sales associate for a national communication provider. I have worked for the company for the past three years, during a time of frequent change due to increased industry competition and technological changes. While working in sales is a financially rewarding position, it is also quite stressful and the stress is probably the most common reason people leave the position. All sales consultants are responsible for achieving a monthly quota, which contributes to the overall office's sales quota. This sales position involves selling residential customers products such as land-line service, cell phone service, internet service, satellite TV service and equipment - preferably in a package deal! I get paid a competitive base salary, commission and product bonuses. My position is covered by a union agreement and I get excellent benefits, including a full retirement plan and comprehensive medical coverage for my entire family, which the company pays for. I also get unlimited prepaid tuition to any school or program I enroll in, as long as I continue to advance academically. I found this job online. I regularly searched the internet for jobs while working for another telecom company. I often searched the internet for better opportunities. I even drove my car looking for large businesses that have corporate offices nearby, wrote down the company names found and searched them online to see if they were hiring. Ultimately, after searching many job board websites, it was on Monster.com that I found my current job. It took about six weeks of searching before finding this job. In addition to searching for jobs on the internet, I also researched potential employers online. Thanks to all the information online, I was able to look up average salaries, check employers websites for the benefits they offered and read reviews from past employees. This allowed me to compare jobs and make a decision on which company I preferred to work for, before accepting a job offer. I also found tips and suggestions online that helped me through the application process, such as sample resumes, possible interview questions and the application process timeline. My initial interview with my company was a 90 minute phone interview. I was mailed information about the S.T.A.R. interview method and felt pretty nervous, as this was going to be a behavioral interview. Whether I had had one in the past, I didn't know. No previous employer mailed me information on the structure of the interview, the expectations and how to word my answers. I felt a little intimidated by such a 'formal' interview. I further searched the internet for additional information about behavioral interviews and came up with some questions that I thought they might ask me. I wrote down answers to these questions and had these in front of me during the interview. This was also my first phone interview. This interview went surprisingly well. By being informed about the structure of a behavioral interview, I was able to easily answer the questions. My interviewer told me it was okay to ask for some time to think before answering, so I did when I needed to. I used the time to jot down some main points and then incorporated them into my answer. Needless to say, I was relieved when I passed this round and went on to a live-person interview. Recently my company was bought by another telecom company. I am thinking about moving on again. A lot has changed since the last time I initiated a full-blown job search. One of the major changes is that the economy is currently struggling and the unemployment rate is high. But I have a lot of resources available to me now that I didn't have before, which I hope will be useful in my job search. I use Facebook to stay in contact with co-workers or colleagues around the world. Many people have come and gone from my company, often moving on to start their own businesses or taking higher positions with other companies. I made sure to stay in touch through Facebook. I also maintain a profile on several job board sites, such as Monster.com and a few international job search sites. I currently do not have my profiles set to display publicly, but when I begin my job search, I will make them searchable to recruiters. I have also invested substantially in my education while working for my present employer. When I began, I had several years of college, but no completed degree. I now have two bachelor degrees and a masters degree. I have updated my resume to incorporate my education, and the overall format of my resume has changed. My university has an active Career Center that offers several resources that I may find useful. Right now I am particularly interested in attending some of the job search workshops they offer, going through a mock interview at their office and attending an upcoming job fair. I also plan to email my resume to the Career Center and implement any suggestions they have for me. Because of my advanced degree, I will be competing for higher positions this time around. I feel that I need to upgrade my job search skills and will use resources that I have available to help me with the job search process, rather than relying solely on my own efforts as I did previously. Online job search tools image from Bigstock
Featured