Getting the best job to support your family is only half the battle; figuring out what kind of job you should be applying for is the other half. It may seem like you should already know what job you want, but it isn’t always that easy. Often times I hear applicants wondering about what type of job they can do, should do, and want to do. For college grads new to the job market, this can be an even harder question to answer. At El Paso Professional Resumes, we are so much more than a resume service; we can also help you through each step of your job hunt. Here are some job search tips to get you started.
Begin Your Job Search Knowing What You Want
To find the right job for your career path, start by brainstorming what you know you can do. Think about any past jobs, internships, and even volunteer work. Ask yourself what your responsibilities were, and what you learned. Odds are that you will discover transferable skills while you brainstorm. Consider what interests you and what is available in your city.
Next consider any skills and qualifications you may already have. This comes down to things specific to your field. For example, all nurses need to have nursing licenses, warehouse workers tend to need forklift certification, and of course teachers need their state license etc. Knowing what you have the ability to do and what you have the qualifications to do can mean the difference between a no or a yes on an interview. This is why your job search should start here and not deviate.
Know What You Don't Want
Then consider what you don’t want to do. One of the biggest mistakes people make is applying to jobs they don't really want to do because they are desperate to get started. My advice is to stay the course, know what you can do, know what you want and stick to that. It will pay off in the long run. People who apply to every job available end up becoming job hoppers, which only hurts their reputation and resume.
Activate Your Network
The next job search tip is to activate your network. This can be easier than you think, simply begin telling your friends and family members you are looking for a job. 50 percent of jobs available are not listed on the internet. This is because employers are getting choosy about who they want to hire. If you can get an inside scoop about a job, and a recommendation, the odds of you getting hired increase drastically. If you worked an internship recently, it would be a good idea to see if that company is hiring, or if they know of anyone in the field that is.
For recent graduates, asking your former professors for leads can be a great source of information too. Essentially, what you want to do is get the word out that you are looking for job to anyone you think might put in a good word for you.
Job Search at Online Sources
On top of asking people around you about hiring opportunities, you should also consider sites like LinkedIn and Indeed. These sources are great because they offer detailed job descriptions that often contain the keywords the company Applicant Tracking System (ATS) will be looking for in your resume. ATS is a way for companies to ‘weed’ the pile of applicants they get, ensuring that only the qualified applicants resumes get into a managers hands. Getting the right words into your resume is the biggest job search tip I can offer anyone. Scanning through hiring websites can go a long way to getting those keywords right.
Benefits of Using an Expert Resume Writer
Speaking of keywords and résumés, there are quite a few perks to hiring a quality resume service. No, this isn’t just because we are a resume service, but because we understand how to work with specific keywords that ATS will look for. Given our vast experience working with multiple resumes for various jobs, we know how to find and insert the right keywords into your resume. As a result, most of our clients get a call back for an interview within weeks of using our service. Regardless of how you choose market yourself through your resume, always consider what a professional can do for you. Contact us today for more info.