Job Search Tips and Strategies
A job search is mostly timing, aim and follow-through. Here is what helps most, and the tools that make each part easier.
1. Apply in the first day or two
Most applications to a posting arrive in its first day or two, and early ones are the likeliest to be read before a shortlist forms. Searching job boards once a week puts you at the back. A job alert brings new postings to you as they come in, so applying early takes no extra effort.
2. Aim each application at the posting
Use the job title and the words the posting uses for skills, if they are true of you. Many employers sort resumes with software before a person reads them, and it looks for those words. The free resume checker shows what a program can read in yours, and Add a Skill writes the lines for a skill a recruiter asked about.
3. Keep track of every application
After a few dozen applications it is easy to apply to the same job twice or miss a follow-up. Note the job, the date, the stage and your next step. Our free application tracker does that, or use the spreadsheet template.
4. Follow up once
A short note about a week after applying, or the day after an interview, keeps your name in front of the person deciding. One polite message is enough; more rarely helps.
5. Count your numbers
Count applications, replies and interviews each week. Few replies usually means the resume or the aim needs work; replies with no offers points at interviews. Knowing which tells you where to spend the next week.
6. Know your market
How many jobs are open and how many people are looking changes month to month and by line of work. The job market right now has the latest government figures. Out of work? Your state’s unemployment rules, including what each state asks of your weekly job search.