If you feel stuck in your job, it's time to find a new career

Finding a job is one of the most stressful activities one can go through in life next to a divorce or loss of a family member. Finding a job is easy but locating and then landing a meaningful career opportunity is extremely challenging. Like many things in the 21st century, technology has made the career search both easier and more complicated at the same time. How does one locate a job? Write a resume? Get your resume noticed? Pass a phone interview and 2-4 in-person interviews? Negotiate salary and benefits? All of these topics must be completed flawlessly in order to land a job.

The Resume The competition for educated labor is intense due to a sagging economy, baby boomers not retiring as early and competition from foreign labor such as India and China. The best way to find a job is through the internet. First you must determine which industry you would like to work in and which position would make a good fit. Next you'll need a resume.

There are free resume templates online as well as resume writing books. The resume should stand out and be brief. The resume should be no more than 2 pages. Your education and work experience should be at the top. Remember companies receive thousands of resumes a day and most HR people only scan resumes for important information. The resume should have a bit of color or contain a logo to stand out from others. Your resume should also contain action words that pertain to the job such as marketing, leadership, goals, budget, and computers for a business job. Most employers have software that scans resumes for keywords they are looking for. If your resume does not have action keywords it is likely never to be read by a human employee.

The Career Search The internet should be the first place to search for a job. Sites like careerbuilder.com, monster.com, hotjobs.com, snagajob.com are all decent places to start. You can post your resume for free which will be available to thousands of employers. You can also directly apply to any position within minutes. Giant sites do have a drawback. The response rate is pretty low due to the volume of resumes received. Try more specific websites such as your states job bank, government job banks or even craigslist. Paid services like myjobhunter.com are great because you can apply to thousands of jobs in a matter of minutes. Paid services make sure your resume actually gets read and thus increasing the number of interviews exponentially. Most paid services are around $50 which is well worth the time and cost. Networking meetings, the newspaper and contact through friends are also great ways to find jobs.

The Interview The interview is where you can close the deal. Wear a suit and answer all questions without rambling, embellishing or badmouthing. Ask follow up questions and maintain eye contact and posture. Do your research on the company as well.