The art of job hunting

The best approach, says Barry Cohen, university employment coordinator for City University of New York, Manhattan, is to tackle job-hunting aggressively. Cohen, who also works privately as a career counselor, said that of the three stages in obtaining your next position, the first is to get the interview.

You’ll find that your cover letter and resume are not just important but critical. It’s a myth that people don’t judge you by what you send. Everybody does, Cohen said. The reality is an HR professional will scan a resume of seven seconds, if that long. If they don’t like what they see, you’re gone.

The second stage is once you’re called into the interview, convert that interview into an offer. If you can’t get an offer, get a hand off or a referral.

Third, you have to be able to negotiate what you’re worth. You never get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. Use a script.