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Tips for Job Searches

Aired March 04, 2003 - 13:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, from play to work, or not working, as the case may be, the economy is supposed to be on the mend. Why, then, are so many folks still going through the want ads, we ask?
CNN's Jen Rogers is at a jobs expo in Los Angeles with some details of who's hiring and where -- hello, Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Well, indeed, it is a very tight job market out there. More than 2 million Americans have lost their jobs since the spring of 2001. I don't know about you, but I certainly have friends out there that are pounding the pavement. And here in Los Angeles, at this convention center, they are expecting more than 5,000 job seekers to be here later today looking for employment.

So what industries should you be looking at if you were looking for a job? Who is actually hiring? Well, the people they say that are hiring are in the following industries -- they say health care is very hot, 280,000 jobs, according to Careerbuilder.com have been created in the last year in health care.

Government also going strong. They say that government, there are a lot of employees in that area that are getting towards retirement age, and that there are some jobs there. Sales and marketing, and also accounting and finance. In terms of cities, cities that have the most jobs, according to Careerbuilder.com, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. So what are some tips for actually getting out there and getting these jobs in these cities and in these industries? Well, they say you need to do a lot of things, but one of them is to work really hard on your resume.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI MCINERNEY, CAREER SPECIALIST: Your resume and your cover letter are your foot in the door. They are really -- your cover letter is what brings your experience to life. Seventy-seven percent of hiring managers prefer a resume that are really customized and fit for the job description that they put out; 66 percent of hiring managers prefer resumes with a strong and appropriate cover letter. And a really good tip that we give the job seekers all the time is thoroughly check your resume and cover letter for spelling and grammatical errors: 48 percent of hiring managers said they will not even consider a candidate if there is spelling and grammatical errors in your resume and cover letter.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROGERS: Other tips: advertise your job loss; do not let pride get in the way. They say tell as many people as you can because you never know, the person you might be telling this to might actually have a job to offer. They also say be very aggressive, be unconventional. Call places early when the boss is in, maybe before an assistant is in and you get your call not screened, and the boss just picks up the phone.

They also say do not take a break. There are jobs out there, but you need to be very aggressive and consistent with this, they say, if you are going to be one of the people that does get a job -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jen, what do the experts say about those Internet search capabilities where you put your resume out there and hope somebody matches up and calls you? Is that a good way to get a job?

ROGERS: It is a useful tool. It should not be the only tool you use. That is what, really, people are saying. Use it, but don't just rely on it and send out 5,000 resumes to everybody on the Internet. You need to be targeted, and you also need to follow up with phone calls and with hard resumes as well. So, it's a resource, but don't bet everything on it.

O'BRIEN: I've always said getting to know the administrative assistant, buttering him or her up is key. All right. Jen Rogers in Los Angeles, thank you very much, we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 4, 2003 - 13:49   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, from play to work, or not working, as the case may be, the economy is supposed to be on the mend. Why, then, are so many folks still going through the want ads, we ask?
CNN's Jen Rogers is at a jobs expo in Los Angeles with some details of who's hiring and where -- hello, Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Well, indeed, it is a very tight job market out there. More than 2 million Americans have lost their jobs since the spring of 2001. I don't know about you, but I certainly have friends out there that are pounding the pavement. And here in Los Angeles, at this convention center, they are expecting more than 5,000 job seekers to be here later today looking for employment.

So what industries should you be looking at if you were looking for a job? Who is actually hiring? Well, the people they say that are hiring are in the following industries -- they say health care is very hot, 280,000 jobs, according to Careerbuilder.com have been created in the last year in health care.

Government also going strong. They say that government, there are a lot of employees in that area that are getting towards retirement age, and that there are some jobs there. Sales and marketing, and also accounting and finance. In terms of cities, cities that have the most jobs, according to Careerbuilder.com, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. So what are some tips for actually getting out there and getting these jobs in these cities and in these industries? Well, they say you need to do a lot of things, but one of them is to work really hard on your resume.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI MCINERNEY, CAREER SPECIALIST: Your resume and your cover letter are your foot in the door. They are really -- your cover letter is what brings your experience to life. Seventy-seven percent of hiring managers prefer a resume that are really customized and fit for the job description that they put out; 66 percent of hiring managers prefer resumes with a strong and appropriate cover letter. And a really good tip that we give the job seekers all the time is thoroughly check your resume and cover letter for spelling and grammatical errors: 48 percent of hiring managers said they will not even consider a candidate if there is spelling and grammatical errors in your resume and cover letter.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROGERS: Other tips: advertise your job loss; do not let pride get in the way. They say tell as many people as you can because you never know, the person you might be telling this to might actually have a job to offer. They also say be very aggressive, be unconventional. Call places early when the boss is in, maybe before an assistant is in and you get your call not screened, and the boss just picks up the phone.

They also say do not take a break. There are jobs out there, but you need to be very aggressive and consistent with this, they say, if you are going to be one of the people that does get a job -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jen, what do the experts say about those Internet search capabilities where you put your resume out there and hope somebody matches up and calls you? Is that a good way to get a job?

ROGERS: It is a useful tool. It should not be the only tool you use. That is what, really, people are saying. Use it, but don't just rely on it and send out 5,000 resumes to everybody on the Internet. You need to be targeted, and you also need to follow up with phone calls and with hard resumes as well. So, it's a resource, but don't bet everything on it.

O'BRIEN: I've always said getting to know the administrative assistant, buttering him or her up is key. All right. Jen Rogers in Los Angeles, thank you very much, we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com