You pushed your way through high school and studied your way through college. Maybe you’ve just completed an internship or a year at a menial gig, taken to pay off those loans. Now it’s time to get the right job that’s tailor-made to your skills, strengths, and passions.
You won’t have much luck finding the right one if you’re only searching on Craigslist or waiting for a friend to help you make connections. Landing your perfect position requires a strong resume, strategic research, and multiple applications.
If you’re ready to go for a rewarding, high-paying job, start by following these tips.
Build Your Resume for the Job You Want
There’s a reason that a whole profession exists called resume writing. The best resumes are custom-made to address the unique parameters of an individual job.
It goes without saying that an engineer applying for a job with Boeing needs a different resume than a teacher applying for a position at an elite high school. However, it may not be as obvious that your resume should change based on the specific nature of jobs within the same industry.
Consider each of the following factors to build a resume that addresses the job you want and proves your qualifications to recruiting managers:
- Include a one-sentence summary of your professional talents and ambitions that aligns with the job: “My ultimate aim as a copywriter is to produce superior content that exceeds expectations and supports the sales goals of my clients.”
- Only list the experiences relevant to the job. For example, if you’re applying for a job as a physician’s assistant, you don’t need to outline the three years you spent as a waitress during college. Focus on the jobs and experiences that relate to healthcare or medicine or demonstrate a talent for communication or support.
- Include your unique skills. This is the 21st century, so your ability to use Microsoft Word won’t impress anybody. But if you have more specialized knowledge or technical attributes – familiarity with specific software, programs, and content management systems – definitely include them, especially if they are widely used in the field. Include foreign languages you know too.
If you are applying to more than one type of job, adjust your resume for each, especially the summary section. Recruiters and hiring managers have a radar for generic resumes, and they are mightly unimpressed by them.
Research Potential Jobs and Employers
With the internet at your fingertips, you can find hundreds of job listings in seconds. Using sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn, employers post their job openings for everybody to see. Most of these services are completely free to use, so you won’t have to spend money as you try to make money.
If there are industry-specific job sites for your field, definitely subscribe to those. Even within these, you can often narrow down your potential job opportunities by keyword, level of education, or salary, as you’d do on a general site.
You might also identify major employers in your area and research the openings listed on their own websites. Some will even let you register to be notified when new positions are posted.
Stay on Top of Your Search
Job openings come and go daily, so don’t feel discouraged if your job search proves futile on Day 1. You can set alerts on Google and every major job search website to ensure you receive an email or text as soon as a relevant job in your area becomes available. If your resume and cover letter are already prepared, you can apply quickly—only tweaking the documents as you see fit—and make your mark as one of the first applicants.
When you receive interview requests for jobs that don’t tick most of your boxes, accept them anyway. If nothing else, those sessions can provide valuable practice for future interviews that matter the most.
Most importantly, don’t give up! You’re equipped with the best job-searching tools, so it’s a matter of time until you find the right job.
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