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JobStreet.com today is one of the most widely used job search websites by Malaysian job seekers, thanks to its role in pioneering the nation’s earliest internet based job search and application way back in the 90s. Apart from being a big player in its native country (and being the only recruitment company on the main board), it is also growing in other countries such as India, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and so on.

I’ve been using JobStreet.com both as a job seeker and an employer and the experience of looking at things from different perspectives taught me that some little act and touch work better than the other for both worlds. For those who are yet to sign up for JobStreet.com, I’d urge you to do so now. I would not want to go into details why you need to have a JobStreet.com job seeker account account, but suffice to say that if you don’t have one, you’re missing one potent attacking weapon in your job search arsenal.

However, it is imperative to know that as the website membership grows (it’s already in the millions now), so does the competition. This means you will need to work extra hard to differentiate yourself from other competing job seekers to win the employer’s heart and get selected for interview and further short listing stage(s).

If you’re looking forward to have a better experience using JobStreet.com account, consider the following 7 tips (note that this is just a personal opinion and not the official tips from JobStreet.com):

1. Use keywords smartly

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Keywords are one of the key elements an employer will look at when skimming through your resume. These keywords are the G-spots of your resume which gives rise to the tingling sensation to the employer every time they come across them. A well matched keyword gives rise to a broad smile and this sense of satisfaction to the hiring manager.

Additionally, you must remember that JobStreet.com incorporate keywords as part of their ranking algorithms, so to improve your chance of being short listed, craft a keyword rich resume. This, by no means does not translate into stuffing all words imaginable, but it should be done smartly, carefully and thoughtfully to ensure all the keywords are relevant to what you’re doing now.

Depending on your fields or career specialization, consider integrating the following keywords in your resume:

Accounting & finance – corporate finance, annual budget, tax advisory, compliance, policies and procedures, internal audit, risk management, credit assessment, corporate governance, financial statement etc.

IT – helpdesk support, system development life cycle (SDLC), incident management, MCSE, system analysis, Java, optimization, Oracle, CCNA, system architecture, Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Human resource – manpower planning, payroll, employee relations, compensation & benefits, industrial relations, Balanced Score Card, performance appraisal, Employment Act 1955.

2. Be an early bird

Every time I posted a job vacancy in JobStreet.com, the next 3 to 4 days will be some busy days for me as I would be returning back and forth to the job advert to start screening candidates. I thought I am the only one with this habit but upon checking with other employer friends, they also do the same. As new weeks passing by, the old job adverts start to get less attention, especially when new recruitment needs arrive.

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You see, today, when an employer advertises a job, they want to see candidates, and they want to see them fast. The days where a recruitment exercise taking ages have long gone by. So, to keep up with the fast changing world, you will need to act fast. If you’re seriously looking out for opportunity, heed this no-nonsense approach and start spending some good deal of time to find the most recent jobs relevant to you.

While applying for jobs which have been advertised for months would not do you any harm, chances are, suitable candidates have been found, even though the ads appear to be ‘open’ in terms of status.

3. Attach a properly crafted resume

The web-based resume you have in your JobStreet.com account comes with a standard formatting; hence the job to differentiating yourself from other candidates becomes a lot tougher. However, by now you have probably realized that with JobStreet.com, you can showcase your own resume (e.g. the Word or PDF resume) through the resume attachment feature.

Think of a moment where an employer is comparing two or more candidates with similar skills and capabilities. Since all the three resumes look the same, what would be the next most sensible move? Yes, opening up the attached, personal resume. Then the differences tell, and the one with the better resume win.

4. Consider Priority Application

The JobStreet.com Priority Application is a paid (ranging between RM25 to RM100, depending on your level), optional feature that allows your resume to be ranked higher than other applications who do not subscribe to the feature.

I used to think that this Priority Application feature to be some sort of cheat, but after looking at many of these candidates, it is rather clear that these people are quite the serious bunch. They are a group of people who do not mind spending a little bit extra to push their luck and be on the top half.

5. Do periodical ‘housekeeping’

Once in a while, your JobStreet.com user account will need to undergo the ‘housekeeping’ process to ensure all details are at their best relevancy and accuracy. No particular periodical cycle can be said optimal for this update but 3 to 6 months would be a sensible time frame. Be sure to maintain the latest contact information and details, and update your employment and education accordingly in your resume.

Apart from the details and information, clean up the old applications especially those which have not been processed for months and those with status left idle by the employers for ages. It’s time to move on and perhaps the moment has come to add new job applications.

6. Don’t simply click apply, do your matching first

Some people have this habit to apply all sort of jobs just to convince themselves that they are ‘doing enough to find a job’. By doing this, they have the perfect excuse to blame other parties for not providing adequate job opportunities when they fail to land a job. More often than not, they end up applying for jobs which are totally irrelevant to their qualification, background and interest.

This is utterly useless. The employer will have a hard time comprehending the reason of your move, and not to mention the time wasted by both you and the employer. Study each and every job application, evaluate the roles and responsibilities accordingly, spot the differences and only apply when they appear to be within your means.

7. Join the Facebook fan

To stay afloat and continue growing, JobStreet.com has been on the social media bandwagon and keeping tab with the latest developments and creating interactive forums with the job seekers. In my opinion, their blog needs some content makeover and the twitter deserves more frequent updating, but it is the Facebook fan page that continues to grow.

Apart from getting acquainted with the latest happenings and updates, you can raise questions and issues which will be looked after (and hopefully with response) from real people behind the page. Who knows this can be a platform for you to network with other people who can eventually land you a great career opportunity?

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