How to Find a Job: A Practical Guide to Finding the Right Job

Finding a job can sometimes feel like a full-time job of its own. You spend hours on job sites browsing, updating your resume, filling out numerous applications, going to interviews, and then waiting. It can be incredibly frustrating to go through the process of finding a job and feel put upon when you don’t get the answer you want. The good news is, finding a job doesn’t have to be a numbers game. If you know how to go about it, you can increase your chances of finding the right job with the right company. Finding a job may seem like a foreign concept if you’ve never done it before, but the steps are somewhat the same for anyone, including those who are looking to change careers, find a new job, or are returning to the workforce. You have to know what kind of job you want, make sure you’re highlighting the relevant and necessary qualifications, apply to the right places, and follow up. Here are some additional tips for finding a job faster.

1. Know What Kind of Job You Want Before Applying

It’s easy to get sucked into applying everywhere at once, but you’re only hurting yourself by doing so. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a new job as soon as possible, but you also want to make sure that you’re not applying for positions that are completely unrelated to you or your skill set. Before you begin applying for jobs, make a list of what you’re looking for in a job so you have a better idea of what you should be spending your time on. Some questions to ask yourself include:

• What type of work do I enjoy doing?
• What skills do I have?
• What kind of company do I want to work for?
• Do I want to work full-time, part-time, in-house, or contract?
• Do I want to work remotely, onsite, or a combination of the two?
• What salary am I looking for?
• What industries intrigue me?
• What are some similar job titles for my field of interest?

Instead of typing in “customer service representative” into job sites, for example, you could try, “customer service specialist,” “client service representative,” or “customer success.” Having an endgame in sight makes the job search process so much easier.

2. Make Sure You Have a Great Resume

Your resume is one of the most vital aspects of your job search. It gives a potential employer a snapshot of your qualifications and experience. A resume doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be easy to read, up-to-date, and include everything relevant to the position for which you’re applying. You should always tailor your resume to the specific job by emphasizing the skills that are most needed in your field. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing position, you’ll want to make sure to showcase your knowledge of your field, the different areas of marketing you have experience with, campaigns you’ve developed and executed, and any relevant certifications you have. Resumes typically include:

• Contact information – Name, location, phone number, email, etc.
• Summary
• Work experience
• Education
• Skills
• Certifications, if applicable
• Achievements or other relevant experience

Another good tip for resume writing is to use bullet points to highlight achievements instead of just responsibilities. For instance, instead of saying, “Responsible for taking customer calls,” say, “Answered over 50 customer inquiries per day while maintaining high satisfaction ratings.” The latter example also showcases your accomplishments in the workplace.

3. Use Job Portals

Job portals are a great way to both discover new job opportunities and to apply for them. Instead of sifting through company career pages, you can use job portals to find what you’re looking for. You can search by job title, location, years of experience, industry, salary, and more. When using job portals, it’s a good idea to use a variety of terms to search for jobs. If you’re searching for a software developer, for instance, you might want to include terms like “software engineer,” “web developer,” “full-stack developer,” “back-end developer,” and “front-end developer” since not all companies will use the same title for the same job. Job portals, like ElseJob, can also help job seekers discover new job opportunities and employers.

4. Search Job Openings on Websites

While job portals are a great place to start, you shouldn’t stop there. One great way to find jobs is to visit the websites of the companies for which you’d like to work and search the career sections. Many companies will list their open positions on their websites. This is a good option if you know the companies you’re interested in working for. Say you want to work in the tech industry; you could create a list of tech companies and then research their career pages to see what sort of opportunities are available. Don’t forget to look into small businesses, local restaurants, startups, agencies, and other places of interest.

5. Leverage Your Professional Network, Including LinkedIn

A lot of jobs are discovered through professional networks. In fact, your professional network can often get you jobs before they’re even posted anywhere else. Your first step should be to update your professional network, including your LinkedIn profile. Make sure your headline is up-to-date and relevant. You’ll also want to include any work you’ve done, relevant projects, and any pertinent information about your education and experience. Connect to people in your field, including recruiters, managers, other professionals, former classmates, and more. If you’re looking for a specific kind of job, though, don’t just randomly send out connection requests. Instead, take the time to find relevant people to connect with. You can also join a group on LinkedIn related to your field of work and get to know people there. While it’s good to keep your options open, it’s also a good idea to have a goal in mind when using professional networks to find a job.

6. Use Your Friends, Family, and Professional Network

Never underestimate the power of your friends and family when it comes to finding a new job. Lots of people have jobs openings that they aren’t even aware of, or at the very least, contacts who do. Reach out to your network of friends, former classmates, extended family members, and people you know from work and let them know you’re looking for a new job. You don’t have to send a long message either; a simple, “Hey, I’m looking for some new opportunities in the customer service/client services industry. If you ever hear of anything, let me know!” will do just fine. Someone in your network may know of an opportunity at their place of business or someone they know at a different company. Some companies even have referral bonuses for employees who refer qualified candidates.

7. Enhance Your Skills, Based on Your Area of Interest

If you’re applying for lots of jobs and not getting anywhere, you may want to rethink your job search. This could mean revising your resume and cover letter, updating your LinkedIn profile, and reaching out to people in your network. Another possibility, however, is that you need to acquire new skills before landing that dream job. Employers often look for job candidates with the relevant skills, so it’s a good idea to refresh your skills or learn something new, depending on what field you’re interested in. Some skills that may be useful, depending on your area of interest, include:

• Communication
• Microsoft Office (Excel, in particular)
• Digital marketing
• Programming
• Project management
• Graphic design
• Customer service
• Sales
• Data analysis
• Artificial Intelligence
• Industry-specific computer programs

There’s no need to get a degree in all of these fields, but it’s a good idea to take a few online courses to learn some of these skills since there are plenty of affordable, if not free, options available. The key is to ensure that the skills you’re learning are relevant to the job you want.

8. Target Jobs Based on Your Experience

When looking for jobs, it can be tempting to apply everywhere at once; however, you should only apply for jobs that interest you and that you’re somewhat qualified for. One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is only applying to jobs that have a 100% match for their skills and experience. The reality is, most job descriptions have a long list of things they’re looking for in a candidate, and more often than not, you won’t have every single quality they desire. Another not-ideal but common practice is applying everywhere at once because a job sounds good based on the title alone. If you meet the majority of qualifications and know you can perform the job well, apply. If you have no experience and the job is only a partial match, save it for later. Quality is far more important than quantity when it comes to applications. Instead of applying for 100 jobs, apply for 10-20 jobs that are a good fit for your experience and qualifications.

9. Craft a Stellar Cover Letter, When Necessary

Not every job requires a cover letter, but when it does, make sure you’re submitting one with your application. A cover letter is a great way to introduce yourself to a potential employer. Don’t just restate your resume; use it to highlight a few relevant experiences or skills. Make sure to keep it concise, professional, and to the point since hiring managers are typically busy people and may not read long cover letters.

10. Prepare for Interviews

Landing an interview is a huge step, but that doesn’t mean you should just sit back and relax now that you’ve made it past the first round. First and foremost, you need to prepare for the big day by doing your research on the company and person for whom you’ve interviewed with. You want to know what the company does, what products/services they offer, who they’re in the industry with, recent developments, culture, and more. Second, you need to review the job description and requirements to make sure you understand what they’re looking for in a candidate. Third, you should prepare answers for the most common questions, including:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why do you want this job?
• Why do you want to work for our company?
• What are your strengths?
• What is one thing you need to improve on?
• Tell me about a time you had to overcome a challenge at work.
• Why should we hire you?
• Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

While you shouldn’t memorize answers word for word, you should know enough to be able to tell an interviewer about your work ethic, relevant experiences, and why you’re a good fit for the job.

11. Use the STAR Method for Behavioral-Based Questions

Behavioral-based questions are another common staple of job interviews, and the best way to answer them is with the STAR method. STAR stands for:

• S – Situation: Describe what was going on
• T – Task: Explain what needed to be done
• A – Action: Discuss what you did personally
• R – Result: Describe the result/outcome

Instead of saying, “I am great with customers,” for example, you could say, “I once turned a difficult customer around by explaining our return policy and showing her the products we had available. She left happy and became a repeat customer.”

12. Follow Up After Applying or Following an Interview

Sometimes, life gets in the way, and we forget to follow up after interviews or applying for jobs. If you know that it’s been a while since you’ve applied for a job or went through an interview and you haven’t heard back, it’s a good idea to send a polite follow-up email to the hiring manager. You can thank them for their time and express your interest once again in the position. If you applied for a job online and have heard nothing back, don’t keep sending follow-up emails every day; give the company some time to respond.

13. Keep Track of Everything

Keeping track of your applications is incredibly important, but it can be easy to forget where you applied and when. A good way to combat this is to create a spreadsheet of all the jobs you’ve applied for. Some columns to include are:

Company

Job Title

Date Applied

Location

Application Status

Interview Status

Interview Date

Company A

Marketing Specialist

Oct. 2

Remote

Applied

–

Company B

Marketing Manager

Nov. 1

New York

Interview

Nov. 5

You can also add the job URL, recruiter contact information, salary, and the date at which you should follow up, if applicable.

14. Stay Away From Job Scams

Unfortunately, there are some less-than-ethical employers out there who will try to scam you out of your money. If you ever get a suspicious offer or an interview request right after applying for a job somewhere, be wary. You should be especially cautious if someone asks for:

Upfront payments

“Registration fees”

Money for a guaranteed job

Financial information ahead of a legitimate hiring process

Cryptocurrency

Other questionable requests for personal information

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

15. Don’t Get Discouraged Easily

Job rejections are bound to happen no matter how qualified you are. The most qualified applicants are still rejected daily because they don’t have the experience the company is looking for, the company hired someone else who fit the job description better, the position was eliminated, the company is downsizing, or any number of other reasons. It’s important to note that rejections are not always a reflection of your skills or lack thereof. If you keep getting rejected, it might be time to tweak your application materials, practice your interviewing skills, or research the company and job role further to ensure you’re a good fit. Rejection is a part of life, and it’s how you choose to deal with it that matters.

16. Establish a Daily Job Search Rhythm

Having a daily job search rhythm is a great way to stay focused and get more done. As a rule of thumb, you want to dedicate about 45 minutes to job searching every day. Here’s a sample job search rhythm for you to use as a guide:

• 30 minutes – Job searching
• 30 minutes – Applying for jobs
• 20 minutes – Resume building or editing
• 20 minutes – Learning new skills
• 15 minutes – Networking or reaching out to professionals
• 15 minutes – Following up on applications

You don’t have to follow this specific schedule, but it’s a good idea to carve out a chunk of time every day to job search.

17. Consider Your Options

The modern workplace is constantly evolving, and with the rise of remote work, companies are having to adapt in new and exciting ways. As such, there is a wider variety of job opportunities than ever before. Depending on your field of work, you should consider the following:

• Remote jobs
• Hybrid jobs
• Onsite jobs
• Freelance jobs
• Contract jobs
• Part-time jobs
• Temporary jobs
• Internships

While working from home may sound like a dream come true, there are some jobs where remote work isn’t viable. When considering your options make sure to take into account your field of work, the trajectory of your career, compensation and benefits, your work ethic, and your overall preferences.

18. Enhance Your Job Search Strategy

Finding the right job can be a trial and error process. If you’re not finding the results you want with your current methods, don’t be afraid to try a few new things. You could tweak your resume, try different job search keywords, apply to a variety of companies, enhance your skills, practice for job interviews, expand your network, or ask someone to review your resume and cover letter. Small changes can have a big impact, so don’t be afraid to shake things up a little bit. Final Thoughts Finding a job is rarely as simple as sending out a few applications and waiting for the offers to come rolling in. Instead, it’s a multi-faceted process that involves figuring out what you want, making sure you’re applying to the right jobs, tailoring your applications, practicing for interviews, and more. Remember to always stay positive, even if you don’t land the job you wanted, and keep applying. Finding the right job for you will take time, but patience and persistence will get you far. You might not get the job after your first round of applications or interviews, but that’s okay. As long as you keep trying, looking, and applying, you’re bound to find something eventually.