Today hiring managers and human resource professionals have a host of technological products at their disposal that allow them to manage an applicant pool efficiently and these tools are specifically tailored to the electronic resume. In today’s marketplace the most efficient way to apply for an employment opportunity is to email your resume or submit your resume through an organizations corporate career portal on their website.

The only time you should personally deliver a resume or mail a hard copy of a resume to an employer is if the employer directly tells you to drop off your application in person or mail in a hard copy of the resume in the employment announcement.

If you happen to have personal relationship or contact with an employer prior to applying for an opportunity; contact them and talk with them about the opportunity and ask for a few moments of their time to drop of a resume. Just showing up unannounced may take time and resources away from the organizations busy schedules to talk with you.

2. Following-Up With The Hiring Manager
When you are searching for an employment opportunity your focus is on finding a job, and your daily routines mainly focus on that endeavor. Hiring managers on the other hand have a number of responsibilities and the opportunity you may have applied for with them maybe one of many daily projects they are working on. So, contacting an employer about the status of a position or interview schedule should be planned out. Do not just call and call over and over again asking for a response or leaving multiple voicemail messages. Plan out how you are going to approach a specific opportunity, and how you will follow-up with the employer.

Utilizing a 3 step approach for your follow-up is best.
Step #1 – Submit your resume and wait about 2 days for a response. Should you not hear anything from the employer, contact them to confirm the receipt of your application and talk with them about their hiring/employment process. The hiring timeline, the best way to follow-up with them, who is doing the interviewing, etc. This will show initiative on your part as well as set you apart from all the applicants as someone who is genuinely interested in the opportunity.

Step #2 – Should you not hear back from the employer around the time they stated in your first conversation, attempt to send an email to the hiring manager; stating you had applied for the opportunity and were wondering the status of the position and if it is something you are being considered for. It is best to keep the email short and polite; which will most likely get a relatively immediately response.
Utilizing email in your follow-up communications is a very non-intrusive method of communicating with an employer. It allows the hiring manager to follow-up with you in a manner that works into their schedule and allows them to address daily issues in an efficient manner.

Sept #3 – Should you not receive any response from the employer, wait about a week or so and follow-up with a brief phone call. Should you not talk with anyone leave a polite message and wait for a response. Do not call over and over every day looking for a response.
Throughout your job search process keep applying for new opportunities and following up in a structured manner; even though you may not receive a response from every single application you will be making the most of each potential opportunity.

3. Thank You Notes
Confused as to when to send a thank you note? Well many people believe that they should customarily send a thank you note thanking the interviewer for their time. But this does nothing to emphasize your interest in the position.

Today, when sending a thank you note it should be to thank the interviewer for their time and provide additional information that would provide a meaningful supplement to your conversations and interview. Providing references, writing samples, etc. With the thank you note today, can be a extremely effective tool to use to continue the interview process along and help a hiring manager make the all-important decision to hire you.

Simply sending the thank you note to thank the interviewer for their time, in today’s marketplace is ineffective.

By following these simple steps will make these outdated job hunting methods more effective and help you land the career opportunity you have been seeking.

Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing (www.webuildstaffing.com). To learn more about Michael or Follow his Blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com