A very interesting article has been published by Dear Abby. In it, a business owner who does the company hiring offered some words of wisdom for job seekers. For those of us who have been in the work force for some time, a lot of these seem like common sense. However, for people who are just getting in to the work force, you may want to take these words of wisdom to heart.

Every contact with a prospective employer is a mini-interview. Present yourself appropriately. An example of inappropriate behavior would be sending an email to the interviewer/human resource contact/recruiter, etc that says “Hey, when would this gig start?” Correct writing styles are very important. Letters and emails should use a salutation and communicate politely and clearly.

Many companies post a great deal of information about job openings on their web sites. Read that site carefully before calling. A human resource contact can find it very frustrating answering questions hat the job applicant could have answered themselves with a little time and research.

When you email the company, remember that you are not sending a text message. While we have all learned wonderful shortcuts in text messaging, sending an email to a potential employer that says “Thnks 4 ur help. Talk 2 u later” just isn’t appropriate, and certainly not professional.

If you are submitting a resume, be sure to proof read it before submitting it. This may be your first “appearance” before a hiring authority. If your resume is full of typographical errors and misspellings, it does not present a great first impression.

One of my favorite “pet peeves” is the email address for an applicant. There are a lot of internet sites out there that offer free email service. Do you really want an employer at a school to have to email you at “hotchick99” when they want to arrange a meeting with you to be a teacher?

If you are going to have a phone interview with a prospective employer – and a lot of companies do start with the initial interview by phone – be sure to take the call in a quite place where you don’t have distractions. Do you really want to be talking to a prospective employer while your child/roommate/etc is cursing over a video game?

And while this is last on the list, I am sure there are hundreds of other tips out there to keep in mind, never tell a prospective employer that you are waiting to hear about another job you applied for that “pays more, offers more free time, and that you want more than this one”. If you just say that you are “exploring further options” that is sufficient. Don’t turn this prospective employer off, especially if you don’t have another job lined up.

There are some great tips here. Again, I am sure this is just scratching the surface, but these are things to keep in mind while you are looking to enter the work for as either a new employee or looking at changing careers.