Top 4 tips for jobseekers

We did a show about job hunting yesterday. Here's what our guests, Amy Lindgren and Paul DeBettignies, had to say.

1. Stop looking at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Don't follow along (with the economy) on a moment-by-moment basis," Lindgren said. "We are in an information society and we need to get used to balancing the information that comes at us." Following the ups and downs of the employment reports too closely kills your motivation and turns you into Eeyore.

2. "Be your own recruiter," DeBettignies said. Don't wait for a job to be posted. Don't wait for a connection from a friend-of-a-friend. "Find out about the jobs before they are posted. Sometimes, companies don't know that they need someone like you. They don't know that they need someone with experiences that you have until they meet you."

3. You need to be persistent and contact employers more than once. Are you afraid of being seen as a pest? "Annoying looks different in different parts of the country and in different industries," Lindgren said. "Some industries are very welcoming to a hard-paced pitch. in other industries, that's overwhelming. Each candidate needs to be thoughtful in what they are doing related to their audience. In any industry, two contacts is not pestering."

4. DeBettignies said beware of "applicant tracking systems" where you submit your resume to a program that sorts it before it reaches a human being. It's great for companies, bad for jobseekers. "If you have to submit your resume through the front door, find a way to get your resume in through the back door," he said. Be aggressive. Ask "who do I know who knows someone who knows a hiring manager."

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