Apply For a Job Online

The newspaper is increasingly becoming obsolete as online job hunting gains popularity. Online job sites are essential in New Zealand in order to find a new job that is a perfect fit, and while the websites can look a little full-on and daunting at first, once you know how to navigate them they'll make the hunt a breeze.

Before you start searching:

First, you'll need to create a CV. CV Writing is often a tough task if you're starting from scratch, but once you know what employers are looking for it's easy to use a basic template and tailor it with your details.

Online job hunting involves e-mailing and/or uploading your CV often, so make sure it's in a commonly openable format: go with .doc to make sure it has a high chance of being readable on the other end. If you are using newer Microsoft Office versions (such as Office 2007), make sure you save your CV in a format readable by older versions of Microsoft Word - nothing can kill your chances more than a CV which can't be opened!

You'll also need a covering letter for each job you apply for, but it's best to wait until you find a job listing you like, and use the content from that listing to identify the strengths you have that you know the employer is looking for.

How to begin:

It's often hard to know where the best jobs are going to be posted, or rather the best jobs for you and your skill level. Some job listings websites list jobs primarily for different audiences, hoping to find a particular kind of person. Ideally, you want to start with a job website that is the easiest to navigate, and has the search variables you want: it is a big plus being able to search by industry as well as profession and role, and also a great bonus to be able to search by salary.

Before you start searching, it's a good idea to register with the job website to take advantage of all of its features. It's a good idea to subscribe to their newsletters too, as they often have great tips on job hunting which only subscribers are privy to.

Searching for a job to apply for:

Searching for jobs is relatively easy, and normally you don't need to fill out all of the variables to find jobs you may like. To begin, you may just want to start with selecting your location, and putting a keyword that is related to the kind of job you are after.

If you want to get more specific, tailor your results to a specific industry, profession or even down to an exact role. This will produce a highly selective set a job listings which may be exactly what you are looking for.  

It is also handy to be able to throw a salary range into your search variables, to retrieve job listings only within a bracket that suits you. However, many job listings do not state the pay range, so it pays not to rely on this for finding your perfect job.

Applying for a job:

If you have found a job (or several) which you think you are interested in, you can apply for a job online. Some employers just state their e-mail address and ask you to send your CV and covering letter direct to them, and others will only offer the option of applying through the job site.

Often when applying via the latter avenue, you may be asked to complete an application form or questionnaire as well. Filling out one of these is often good practice for the questions you may be asked in an actual job interview, so these are good preparation to get you familiar with the types of questions you can be asked in an interview.

You've already got your curriculum vitae ready to send, but you'll need to write a cover letter, to encourage an employer to read your CV. This is your chance to sell yourself, it is your first impression. Make sure you have thoroughly read the job description, and have found out more about a company via their website: often, a company's ideologies will be published online on their "About Us" page. Use all of this information to tailor your covering letter to sell yourself as ‘exactly what they are looking for', you want to identify the skills they want with the skills you have, and promote them. 

When you are applying for very similar jobs, you may be able to use one cover letter as a template, and tweak it for each job. However, the most important thing here it to be very careful to check that you change every mention of the job title and company name within the letter to be relevant to the job you are applying for - nothing looks worse than "enclosed is my CV in application for the advertised position with Company Z" when covering letter is actually for Company Y. Always remember to change file names to suit each job as well.

Continuing the search:

Job hunting can often take longer than expected, while you may be sure you're perfect for a job, you may never even get an interview, so it pays to keep an eye out and apply for several positions.

The easiest way to do this is to save your job searches in your profile, and have a feed of newly listed jobs e-mailed to you on a regular basis. This way you don't have to continually fill out searches to find job listings, they conveniently make their own way to your inbox.

Keep tabs on your jobs:

It is very important to keep tabs on which jobs you have applied for, and many job websites can save this information for you with an application tracker. This is most important when applying for several jobs, you don't want to get caught out when an employer phones you for an interview and have no idea who they are or what the job is, or even worse, apply for the same job twice!

Looking for more information about jobs in New Zealand? Check out the New Zealand Jobs section on NZS.com.

Do you want to write for NZS.com, New Zealand's top Web directory? We are looking for New Zealand writers for our unique new article writing program - whereby you can write and submit articles for our website, and you will earn 50% of the revenue from the advertising on your article's page. Check out the Article Authors homepage to apply now!

Business images from Flickr: Keyboard Blur, New Zealand Flag and Wellington Buildings.