Spring cleaning -and another job hunt.

As a father for four growing kids I am finding that the monthly outflow of money seems to be growing faster than normal pay raises can keep up with. So now I'm in the process of "upgrading" my employment.

For me this usually means searching for jobs or getting promoted in my current function. Searching for jobs can be tough work all by itself, especially when there's a layoff involved. Fortunately, there's no layoff this time and this is about the fourth time I've been through the process so I've learned to use some good principles like networking, resume building, and marketing myself.

EMPLOYMENT RECIPE

My complete employment recipe explains the job hunt process I go through in detail. It comes from my own experience, which has resulted in at least two substantial raises during my career including one that was 27% one year.

STANDOUT RESUME
In addition to following the recipe mentioned above, having good resume. I found an excellent online tutorial for writing a standout resume.

In addition to the tutorial above, there are three things to make sure is communicated through your resume.

1. I am the perfect candidate for THIS particular job


2. I possess the right mix of skills/attributes to be successful in THIS particular job


3. And most overlooked....the resume should demonstrate that you have invested a tremendous amount of resources into my preparation for this job...which will also prove that you are a good investment.

JOB WEBSITES & RESOURCES:

I've compiled my own personal database of sites on the web where I can find good engineering jobs. I hope this list can help some of my friends in the Northwest area.