As springtime approaches, so does spring cleaning and, for some, that means a career clean up. Whether you’re looking for a new internship or full-time job, I’m going to pass along my tips and tricks to you. I was recently on the job hunt for about two months and finally received (and accepted) an offer! I’m extremely excited about it and it is definitely a weight off of my shoulders.
Hopefully my good vibes follow you along your job hunting journey and bring you something amazing. But my first tidbit of advice is: don’t worry if the results aren’t instantaneous. It may take weeks or months of constant resume editing and sending out applications, but eventually the right offer for exactly the right job for you will come. Just be patient and do your due diligence of never giving up on your search.
I found I turned to three main sources for job openings, advice and networking. The first?
LinkedIn.
I know what you’re already thinking – one more person shoving LinkedIn down your throat. Ugh. But trust me, LinkedIn will soon enough become your best friend. So take a day to sit down and truly focus on your account and your profile. Add every job and/or class project you’ve worked on that resonated with you and that could bring something to the table in terms of a potential interview. How did that job/project help you grow as a person? What did you learn from it that you can carry with you in your next job? Be able to answer these questions for yourself so that way you’re prepared when someone else is asking the questions.
One of the first things you need to do on LinkedIn is make sure you upload a nice, professional headshot photo. Under this photo and your name then rests a “Headline” section, where you need to explain in a few words what you’re looking for. Career in social media? Internship for psychology? Let the world know! Doing this right out of the gate will help future recruiters or human resource folks know who you are and what you want if your name pops up in a search query. Just don’t be so specific that if someone reads it, they automatically could disqualify you for a position.
Another main thing you need to focus on with LinkedIn are your connections. Network, network, network! LinkedIn will help you by bringing up a multitude of people they believe you may know. You also have the option to search for individual people you may know and want to connect with. Once you have an updated profile and some connections, start your search and apply! An important thing to remember is to see if you have any connections to the company that you may be applying for. If luck has it and you do, send them a direct message! Say hello, explain why you are reaching out, and see if they can offer any advice in terms of the application process. Once you’ve done this, it could potentially give you an “in” with the company or simply give you a better idea of when you might hear back about your application. Either way, it’s definitely a winning situation.
Indeed.com
Next on my list of sources to turn to when job/internship hunting is Indeed.com. When I was searching, I didn’t use any other major job availability sites except for this one. I know some people recommend Monster or some others, but I always felt the safest and had the most luck finding openings on Indeed.com. All you really have to do is set up an account and start searching.
When you find a job you’d like to apply for, some postings will give you the option of “Easy Apply” where you can apply directly from Indeed, where others will link you over to the company website. After you “Easy Apply” a few times, Indeed will ask you if you want to upload a resume to keep on file for when you apply to other jobs in the future. This is up to you, but I never do this simply because I know exactly where my resume is at all times so it never took me any time to add it into my application.
This is truly all there is to do on Indeed. It’s super user friendly and my main advice with this site is that new jobs are posted every day. Take some time to continue searching and, again, use different words and phrases to make sure you see all of your options. You never know exactly how a recruiter or company will list a position until you find it.
Lastly, a source that I never thought of until someone else brought it to my attention. Facebook. Not only is Facebook a way to keep in touch with friends and relatives, it is also home to many “pages” and “groups” for career building. I was asking a friend of mine for some job advice and she added me into two different Facebook groups for my city. I wrote a post on one of the pages, explained who I was and what I was looking for in my career and had multiple comments within the hour. Not only were some of the comments notices for available jobs, some were also simply words of advice and positivity, which I greatly appreciated in my time of uncertainty.
And because everyone loves a happy ending, one of those simple Facebook comments led to my recent job offer. So hold your judgement about Facebook until you try your hand at this!
I can’t exactly tell you what your groups will be named, but mine included the city I was job searching in and something like “Women in Digital” or “Digital Jobs.” Based on what career you’re searching for, try some different words and phrases matching with the city you’re looking to work in and hopefully some results will pop up. Once you’re admitted to the groups, post about yourself and your professional aspirations and wait to see what happens. You never know, maybe your soon-to-be job offer will come from one of those comments.
Above all else, stay patient and be kind to yourself. No one gets a job overnight. As long as you work hard and stay focused, something good will come to you. The perfect job for you is just the click of an application and an interview away. You got this.
Have any other tips for the job hunt? Let me know below in the comments!
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
