Kick Start Your Job Hunt

Labor Day weekend is sort of like New Year’s for the job-hunting crowd—with their biological clock still set to the “academic calendar” and the word labor setting off all sorts of subconscious alarms, first-time job seekers or those looking to make a change often go full-throttle in the month of September.

Thankfully, our favorite hyper-organized tech-geeks over at Lifehacker offer a pretty comprehensive Guide to Nabbing the Job You Want, including these interesting tips:

• Use RSS and email updates to find jobs. One of the worst parts about the job search is trolling through job-listing sites looking at positions that are either terrible or require far more experience than you could possibly have. You can use a combination of RSS creators and email converters to set a customized inflow of job postings and keep everything in one place to make sure you don’t miss that rare gem.
• Be salary savvy. Salary negotiations are not always necessary or possible for a first gig, but if they are or you just want to know where you can pull the fattest paycheck, it’s best to be prepared. Lifehacker points to PayScale, which is a good spot to get general salary ranges for specific position (e.g., magazine editor) in a specific city. Measure up and make sure you’re getting what you deserve (or what’s “competitive,” at least).
• Look good in interviews. We agree that spending money to get a job is usually unnecessary, but sometimes you need to shell out a bit to dress appropriately for a job interview. Penelope Trunk has some good tips, including a trick for saving money on suits by hiring a good tailor.

Lifehacker’s Guide to Nabbing the Job You Want [via Lifehacker]