Let’s face it: job hunting can stink. Getting paid is nice, though. There’s our dilemma. So, how do we make job hunting stink less? By being aware of the right places to look! In the past, job hunting was as easy as opening up the classifieds. Nowadays, there are connections, the internet, the classifieds, and even social media to help you find your dream job – or at least a place that will pay you to stand somewhere!
From LinkedIn to your local paper, businesses are posting job listings every day, and it’s up to you to find them! Let’s talk about where and how to use the tools available to you:
- LinkedIn – Considered the “Facebook” of the professional world, LinkedIn is where you go to create professional profile for yourself. Think of it like a cross between Facebook and a resume! You can list your experience, education, volunteerism, and your skills. People that you are connected to can then “like” your skills which endorses you. Pretty cool, huh? LinkedIn also allows you to search companies for positions as well as put yourself out there as available for hire! Warning: this is your professional social media channel… no cat photos or party selfies here!
- Indeed – Indeed is a fantastic site that you can use to browse job postings all over the world. There’s quite a bit to sift through – you may be looking for a marketing gig but a fry cook position will pop up… but, ultimately, there are a lot of good listings as well. There are literally more than a billion job searches each month and hundreds of thousands of new postings each week, so it’s one of the places that you can search every day to find new postings. There’s also a mobile app, email alerts, and a ton of ways to filter your daily searches.
- Monster – The fallen queen of the online job boards, Monster is still a fantastic site to find a job. It still hosts more than a million available listings while offering resume advice, interview tips, pay negotiating tricks, and potential interview questions for your practice!
- com – This site is a fantastic option if you are a student looking to gain some valuable work experience. Featuring over 180,000 positions at more than 100,000 companies across the country, there’s something for everyone here! And don’t think that interns are volunteers… you can sort openings by paid or unpaid opportunities, company, location, or even field of work. The site also offers a free mobile app and a bunch of resume templates if you’re just getting started.
- The Classifieds – Look, it may sound old-fashioned, but local businesses all still post positions in the local paper! While it’s not as rewarding as, say, searching on Indeed or Monster, it will give you a very accurate picture of who in your community is hiring.
- Your Network – If you have friends, you have connections. If your friends have friends, then you have more connections! See how that works? Sometimes the best thing that you can do when job searching is just talk about it! That doesn’t mean that you can complain about it… nobody wants to hire a negative person. But letting your friends and acquaintances know that you’re in the market for a job just might be the key to finding one!
Finding a job is about perseverance, patience, and putting your “best you” forward! While you’re looking, carve out time every day to search job boards, work on your resume, or get involved in the community. Who knows: volunteering at the next big local event could put you right in front of your next boss!