MPUG's job board typically features between 400 and 700 jobs at any given time, all having to do with project management. In this article, we give you a quick tour of the features that can benefit your next job search as an employee. This is a benefit available only to current members of MPUG. (In fact, you won't find the link anywhere on the site unless you're logged in as a member.) In the future, we'll show you how to exploit the Career Center as a hiring manager or employer.
How to access the Job Board
1. Log in with your MPUG member user name and password.
2. In the left menu, find "Career Center" and click on it.
3. To perform a job search, choose the Job Search tab. Jobs will be listed in recent-date order.
Setting Up Job Alerts
To set up an email alert of new jobs fitting the criteria you specify, choose the Job Alerts tab, then fill out the form. The Alert Name allows you to specify a title for a specific type of search alert, such as all jobs in a given locale or that include a particular keyword in the job description. Once you're done setting up the alert details, click "Create Job Alert." Each alert will be included in a list that appears at the top of the page.
Letting Employers Find You: The Six Steps to Creating a Career Profile
If you're interested in hearing from potential employers, spend a few minutes to fill out your online Career Profile by choosing that tab. The process includes six forms and takes about 15 minutes to complete, as long as you've taken the time to keep your resume current. The first form asks for basic information, name, address, state, contact numbers, and the like. Here, one field that might cause confusion is "State Region," where you specify what part of a state you're located in (such as the Silicon Valley/San Jose region in California).
The second form lets you provide information about your current employment situation. (If you don't want to list your current employer's name, just come up with a description, such as "Major healthcare provider" or "Fortune 10 financial services firm.") Also, for another field, be prepared to copy text about your current duties and responsibilities from your resume.
The third form lets you fill in information about previous positions. The fourth form covers education details, including majors, minors and GPA. Form five lets you specify what you're looking for in terms of job type, duration, minimum acceptable salary, preferred locations, company size, and industries. There's also a text field that lets you specify other preferences.
The final form has two fields, one to paste in an introduction of yourself and your goals and desires -- up to 100 words; and the other to enter additional notes. This latter spot is a good place to plug those keywords that potential employers might do searches on. If you have expertise with a certain toolset or project methodology, here's where to promote it. Once you're done with that, press Submit, and your career details will be part of the searchable database employers tap into for their next hire.
Ask the Experts
Last, you'll want to register in the Ask the Experts site (yes, it requires a separate registration process). Here, you can privately pose those career questions you have nobody else to turn to for, such as "How do I negotiate a higher salary than the one I'm being offered?" or "Does anybody pay signing bonuses anymore?"
Once you've found that dream job through the Career Center, let us know at editor@mpug.com so that we can profile you and your strategies for job-hunting success.