1. Welcome to Virtual Job Coach 2. Plan your job search campaign.
2.1. What job do you want? 2.2. What company do you want to work for? 2.3. How much time will you devote to the search? 2.4. How are you going to divide your time? 2.5. Do you need a back-up plan? 2.6. How will people contact you? 2.7. What to have scripted? 2.8. Support network.
3. Managing your job search campaign.
3.1. Avoid activity clumping. 3.2. Always set a next action. 3.3. Balancing your activities with your availability. 3.4. Do something different, even totally self indulgent. 3.5. Maintain a hobby, or exercise.
4. Dealing with Procrastination.
4.1. Break tasks down to small enough steps. 4.2. Create little successes for yourself. 4.3. Just do it, it doesn’t have to be perfect. 4.4. Practice in a safe environment. 4.5. View each risk as an experiment. Have fun with it.
5. Networking.
5.1. What is networking? 5.2. The aim of Networking. 5.3. Types of relationships. 5.4. Start networking.
6. Generating list of target companies.
6.1. Researching companies. 6.2. Finding contacts at a company.
7. Informational interviews. 8. Interviewing.
8.1. Preparing for the interview. 8.2. Phone interviews. 8.3. Pre Interview. 8.4. The interview. 8.5. After the interview.
9. Prepare your references. 10. Constructing an elevator pitch.
10.1. Using the elevator pitch in an informal setting. 10.2. Using the elevator pitch when you’re networking by phone.
11. Resumes.
11.1. Types of resumes and their use, when and why.
12. The Chronological Resume.
12.1. The Traditional Chronological. 12.2. The Technical Chronological. 12.3. The Prior Experience Chronological. 12.4. The Education Focus Chronological.
13. The Functional Resume. 14. The Hybrid Resume. 15. Resume sections.
15.1. Contact details. (Required) 15.2. Summary statement (optional). 15.3. Objective statement (optional). 15.4. Selected Achievements. (Optional) 15.5. Key Skills. (Optional) 15.6. Technical skills (optional). 15.7. Employer Section. (Required) 15.8. Position Section. (Required) 15.9. Achievement Section. (Required) 15.10. Education and training. (Required) 15.11. Prior experience. (Optional) 15.12. Membership and affiliations. (Optional) 15.13. Volunteer. (Optional) 15.14. Certificates. (Optional) 15.15. Licenses. (Optional) 15.16. Publications. (Optional)
16. Cover Letter.
16.1. Contact Information and Addressee (Required) 16.2. The opening. (Required) 16.3. The first paragraphs. (Required) 16.4. T-style (Optional) 16.5. Bullets. (Optional) 16.6. Closing Paragraphs. (Required) 16.7. The Closing. (Required) 16.8. Enclosures (Optional)
17. Marketing Letter.
17.1. How to create a Marketing letter. 17.2. The target company section.
18. Reference Letter. 19. Thank you. 20. Acceptance Letter. 21. Rejection Reply Letter. 22. Action Verbs 23. Find Jobs Page
23.1. Search for Jobs using VirtualJobCoach 23.1. Adding an RSS feed from your favorite job board
24. Saved Jobs Page
24.1. Add jobs from the Find Jobs page 24.2. Save jobs manually 24.4. Track your progress through the selection process 24.3. Import positions from 'pipe' (|) delimted file
25. Companies page
25.1. Add companies manually 25.2. Import companies from 'pipe' (|) delimted file
26. Contacts page
26.1. Add contact information 26.2. Import contacts
. vCard format (.VCF) . CSV exported from Outlook or Outlook Express (.CSV) . CSV exported from ACT . CSV exported from Gmail . CSV exported from Yahoo . CSV from another source
26.3. Exporting Contacts
27. Calendar page
27.1. Adding a calendar event 27.2. Importing calendar events using iCalendar 27.3. Exporting events 27.4. Adding a To-Do
28. Documents page
28.1. Create a new Resume 28.2. Create a new Cover Letter 28.3. Import a document 28.4. Make a copy 28.5. Preview a document 28.6. Email a document 28.7. Print after download a document 28.8. Show Links 28.9. Delete a document
29. Quick add

2.1. What job do you want?

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Before you start any job search activity this is the most important question to answer. While we all have a range of skills that we bring to every job, employers don’t hire people who can do anything; employers hire people who can address specific problems they have. Being able to define the position you want will also determine which job search methods are best, define which documents you will need to create and what information each will include.

To help you define the job you want, here are some questions for you to consider:

  • What skills do you have, and like to use, what skills don’t you like using or have yet to acquire?
  • What do you want out of the position, what will make happy to be doing this job? This could be acquiring new skills, be exposed to new technology, practices or methodologies, or work with a particular person or team.
  • What type of work environment suits you? Does fast-paced appeal more than quiet, laid-back, would you prefer to be inside or outdoors or a mix of both?
  • Do you like to work with others, or are you better working on your own?
  • Are you looking for the same job, do you want to get the next position up the ladder or downshift to a lower position?
  • Do you want the same or similar job to your current position, or something very different?
  • Do you want to stay in the same industry or move to a similar or different industry?
  • What are your values, and how important are they in your next job.
  • What level of remuneration will you accept? Think beyond salary and consider pension benefits, medical and dental insurance, vacation, flexible working time, travel time expenses.

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