Tactics to mastering online job hunting

Internet recruiting has forever changed the job-search process, according to CareerJournal.com The Wall Street Journal's executive career site. For some, the Internet is a black hole where applications and resumes disappear forever. For others, the Internet is the best place to expand your reach and prospects.
By using the right tools, you can master the digital job jungle and make it your ally, says Tony Lee, editor in chief of CareerJournal.com. You can research information to your heart's content through company web sites, discussion boards, search engines and sites like CareerJournal.com.

To get the most from your online research, CareerJournal.com offers these tips:

The Internet jungle can be overwhelming, depending on how you browse. Take charge by deciding on the information you want. Save, digest or bookmark useful information or sites that you discover using search engines.

Focus on your strengths and personal preferences. Think about the skills and accomplishments of which you're most proud, jobs you've held and the functions you've performed or could. What work style, schedule and income do you want? What values and life style are important to you? Keep these answers in the forefront while you search.

Start with your current situation. Are you happily employed? Bored with your current position? Worried about or preparing to be laid off? Expecting family needs to change? Out of work and willing to reinvent your future or only worried about surviving? Impatience, for example, can cause you to move too quickly in the wrong direction. Having to go back and start again can be discouraging.

Regardless of technological advances, basic job-finding strategies haven't changed. Taking a new shortcut, such as mass e-mailing your resume, will be unproductive and frustrating. Just like in Las Vegas, playing more numbers doesn't make you a winner.

Learn to use the Internet to access the hidden job market and locate unpublished opportunities. Check company Web sites to review their job postings. If you find a listing that matches your qualifications, find a way to meet face-to-face with someone who can make or influence the hiring decision.

If you find a company you'd like to work for but there's no opening for you, try to create one, suggests Mr. Lee.
Draw a diagram about what you already know about the company and where you could make a contribution, like growth, recovery, turnaround, bailout or merger. Send e-mail to the right person (someone who would benefit from your problem-solving or energetic commitment) and ask if you can meet to discuss ways you can add value to this area. Stress the benefits you could bring to the enterprise.
For more job-hunting guidance, visit Tom Jackson's series of articles Career Victory: Guerrilla Tactics in the Digital Job Jungle on CareerJournal.com.