LookingUp:

graemeh: The Admin person at a local real estate agents office has a PhD.  So sad what this country has come to.

... that said though, what's the PhD in?  I did my degree in Electrical Engineering, not because I particularly wanted to be an Engineer, but because I wanted to be employed.  I could just as easily (in fact probably more easily) have done mathematics, chemistry or physics, but the career opportunities in those areas were less defined and tangible.

If you do a PhD in Ethiopian Pottery or something similarly abstract you need to accept that there might be limited opportunities for you to ply your trade.  I now work in Science, and many of the people I work with recognise that they have very few career prospect outside their current position, due to the highly specialised nature of their area of expertise.  It is a very real issue for them.

LookingUp:

graemeh: The Admin person at a local real estate agents office has a PhD.  So sad what this country has come to.

... that said though, what's the PhD in?  I did my degree in Electrical Engineering, not because I particularly wanted to be an Engineer, but because I wanted to be employed.  I could just as easily (in fact probably more easily) have done mathematics, chemistry or physics, but the career opportunities in those areas were less defined and tangible.

If you do a PhD in Ethiopian Pottery or something similarly abstract you need to accept that there might be limited opportunities for you to ply your trade.  I now work in Science, and many of the people I work with recognise that they have very few career prospect outside their current position, due to the highly specialised nature of their area of expertise.  It is a very real issue for them.

miamiheatfan: What kind of science are you working in ?
I'm studying Computer Science, how is the prospect in that ? (apart from the ever advancing tech blabla all that lol) 

xpd: Good luck :)

lonney: Things I find help include:

Always read the job advert properly, several times over!

On one occasion an employer asked for an explanation of what DNS is and how it worked in the advert. I took the time to do this in a couple paragraphs. During the interview they mentioned that most people didn't do this, they automatically got filtered out of the application process. I got that job too.

Write a cover letter and tailor it to the position, and address what the advert outlines - skills, experience etc and how you match that, I try to keep it down to 3/4 of a page.

CV/Resume, 2 pages, again you should tweak it for each job.

Get the format right, keep it clean and simple. Over the years I've had the odd comment about how good mine is and did I do it my self? I've poured hours of effort into getting it right, looking at how other people do theirs for examples. Sometimes you'll find one that hits the mark, it reads well, and shows you their skills quickly and clearly. I've borrowed ideas from the good ones, and it pays off by the looks. Also pay attention to how good it looks when printed.

Spelling, seriously there is no excuse to not get it correct and to use good grammar. Sometimes the spell checker will suggest a totally different word, looks pretty silly when these slip through. So proof reading everything a few times is a must. 

On average I might spend about two or more hours writing a good cover letter, tweaking the CV, looking around the companies website to see what they are about. Before sending it off, I'll leave it for a while and go do something else, often I think of better ways of wording things, or something I missed the first time around. 

I think the amount of effort you put into refining your job application skills, and getting it right reflects how likely you are to get an interview. As a few have mentioned employers get swamped with applications and they are weary of generic cover letters and CV's. Sure I don't always get interviews either, and it's frustrating, but sometimes you'll get a surprise too!

A funny thing I read on a forum thread recently where people were talking about dealing with the hiring process, one person posted about the large number of applications they received for a position, the boss threw half the of them in the bin and said "we don't hire unlucky people".

Another tip I can think of is identify places you'd like to work for, personally go and see them, make an appointment to see their hiring person/manager. While they might not have a job just for you then and there, they'll often keep your CV. Then rather than advertising a new opening and dealing with a bazillion applications, they'll go through the CV's they already have, make a few calls. One place I worked at did this, and several positions were filled when there was an opening with people that had previously expressed their interest by coming in and making them selves known.

Personally I think most IT courses are a waste of time if you want to be a tech, better off to go do A+, Network+, and start off in an entry level position and work your way up by doing Cisco/MS/Whatever certifications along the way. Sure if you want to do software development, then a CS degree is probably the way to go.. But that's just my thinking.

As far as getting the job done and success goes, heres a link to a forum post I found insightful. 

xpd: Crysis, Id either remove or heavily watermark your documents - maybe Im thinking slightly paranoid, but it wouldnt be hard for someone to copy those documents and modify them to suit themselves..... otherwise a nice clean layout for a online CV :)