Ins and outs of job hunting.

• Position: Employment - Brief Article

Searching for work in today's competitive market requires considerably more effort than in recent years, notes Tracey Turner, executive director of The Creative Group, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing firm placing creative, advertising, marketing, and Web professionals. According to Turner, methods that may have worked in a robust economy should be replaced with more-focused, aggressive strategies. "As competition for employment intensifies, job seekers are branching out beyond obvious tools such as job-board postings and classified ads. They're networking harder and smarter, and using their resumes to paint vivid pictures of the value they can add to companies.

"The most successful applicants thoroughly research prospective employers before initiating contact. They approach job interviews with a `sales pitch' on how their skills and expertise can directly benefit the company." The following are tactics that Turner says are "in" and "out" when it comes to landing a new position:

In Out * Working a room * Working the want ads * Freelancing, volunteering, or * Free time while job hunting continuing your education while job hunting *...