Seven ways to speed up your job search

For many job seekers, it can take five months or more to find a job. But you can significantly reduce the amount of time it will take you to find your new jobs by following these seven simple ways to speed up your job search:

1. Always be prepared. Even if you are not actively looking for work, make sure that your resume is up to date and ready to send. You just might be presented with an opportunity that you can’t resist, so make sure that you have plenty of resume paper, a reliable voice mail system, a professional looking email, and a reliable contact number in place. Make sure that this information in its current state appears on your resume, so that you will be able to follow up with potential employment suitors as soon as possible.
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3. Create resume and cover letter templates. Be sure to have digital versions of your current cover letters and resumes on hand and ready to edit. As you search for positions that you may be interested in, tailor the content of your resumes and cover letters to match the requirements of the jobs you're applying for. Though this may seem tedious at first, you will find that as you keep doing it, the exercise will be come easier and quicker.
   
4. Use job search engines. Searching job search engines like Indeed, SimplyHired, and Jobster can really help you speed up your job search. These sites search the major job banks, employer sites and other sources of job listings so you don’t have to.
   
5. Use job search agents. The big job boards, niche boards, and even employer websites will allow you to set up a job search agent that will send new job listing to you via your email. You tailor the agent to your preferences, and the job agent will alert you immediately when it finds a job that you might be interested in, dramatically reducing your search time.
   
6. Use resume posting services. Resume posting services, like ResumeRabbit and ExecReg.com, are sites where you can post you post your resume to multiple job sites at once. This will save you a lot of time and typing. It also takes out some of the monotony that you might feel sometimes while job hunting.
   
7. Have your references ready. Prepare a list of three references including name, job title, company, phone number and email address ready to give to interviewers. Be sure to prescreen your references to make sure that they will give you a positive recommendation by letting them know that you would like to use them as a reference in your job hunt.
8. Network. Although not necessarily a time saver, networking will help you broaden your job search resources and can help get your name out there. Remember that the majority of all job openings are not advertised and are filled by friends and acquaintances of current employees. Be sure to let everyone know that you are looking for work and ask them if they can help.