Whether you’re a recent college graduate or a seasoned employee, looking for a new job can be stressful.
While there are hundreds of online job postings that you can apply to, it’s difficult to find the right position that fits your lifestyle and needs.
Relying on advice from experts on everything from how to look for a job to landing an interview and following-up with hiring managers, here are top tips job seekers should follow to secure their dream job.
1. Identify your skill sets
Many people start their job search by looking at the job titles that sound most fitting to their career goals. While this method may prove to be successful for some, job seekers should preferably look at the required skills of a position instead. By doing this, employees will be able to identify the skill sets they already possess and the jobs that best match their experiences.
Also, since job titles are constantly changing, focusing on the required skills of a position can open your search up to job titles that you didn’t even know matched your expertise.
2. Utilize online resources and company websites
Thanks to the internet, looking for a job today goes far beyond asking a friend and searching for an opening in the newspaper. Now, companies use their website to advertise job openings, and job search platforms can also help you identify opportunities. Use these sites to not only search for a specific position but to also look for “similar jobs” or “suggested jobs” that may pique your interest.
3. Narrow down your search to the best options
Rather than apply to any and every opening you see, it’s best to narrow down your search and only apply to the positions that sound most fitting to your skill sets and career goals. To go a step further in ensuring that a job is right for you, do a little bit of background research on the company to get a sense of its values and why employees do or don’t like working there. Also, dig into your own network to see if you’re connected to someone who has experience at the company and who can share their perspective on working there.
4. Save the best job listings for future reference
Even after you’ve submitted your application for a job, you should still copy and paste or print the job listing for future reference. With many employers removing a position once they’ve received enough applicants, saving a job description can help you prepare for an interview when you want to look back on the qualifications needed.
5. Customize your resume to match each position you apply to
Even if you’re looking at jobs that are all within the same industry, it’s still important to tailor your resume so that it matches each specific job you apply to. By doing so, you give yourself a competitive edge over the resumes that hiring managers know are used for any and every job.
6. Don’t restate your resume in your cover letter
Your cover letter should not read like an extra copy of your resume. Instead, it should provide hiring managers with more background information about who you are and why you are a right fit for the position and the company. It should also include a call to action like, “I look forward to connecting to discuss next steps,” so the employer knows just how interested you are in moving forward with the position.
If a job application doesn’t specifically ask for a cover letter, it never hurts to send one anyway. It can be the determining factor that sets you apart from the rest of the competition.
7. Prepare for your interview
Before going on an interview, jobs seekers should do the following three things:
1. Research the company you are interviewing with and the work they do.
2. Practice answering tough and common interview questions beforehand.
3. Look up background information about the individual you are interviewing with.
The preparation you do for an interview can be the key to you landing a job.
8. Always ask questions
In addition to preparing yourself for how to properly answer an interview question, you should also prep yourself on what information you want to know from the interviewer. If you don’t ask questions in an interview you can easily “run the risk of unintentionally appearing disengaged or uninterested.”
To show your interest, ask questions about the growth opportunities at the company or inquiring about the biggest challenges people face working there.
9. Send a thank you note
To really stand out and show your appreciation for the interview, you should always send a follow-up note thanking the hiring managers for taking time out of their schedule to meet with you. This note can be sent via email, but before sending you should triple check to make sure there are no grammatical errors and that all names are spelled correctly.