How to find a job

How to Find a Job Online

This article was co-authored by Alyson Garrido, PCC. Alyson Garrido is an International Coach Federation accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Facilitator, and Speaker. Using a strengths-based approach, she supports her clients with job search and career advancement. Alyson provides coaching for career direction, interview preparation, salary negotiation, and performance reviews as well as customized communication and leadership strategies. She is a Founding Partner of the Systemic Coach Academy of New Zealand.

There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

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The internet is a great resource for job seekers, but it can also be a bit overwhelming if you approach it without a gameplan. Your best way to find a job online is to boost your online presence by creating a professional website and/or LinkedIn profile. Look for job listings posted on a variety of sites from alumni organizations to generic employment boards. When you find a job that appeals to you, act fast and put in a professional application with strong supporting materials.

How to find a job: 5 tips

Your attempts to find a new job aren’t successful? Here is a list of useful tips for getting a position of your dream!

Welcome to our useful site – Motivational tips! 🙂

Sometimes looking for a job can be quite tiresome both physically and psychologically.

You can find your dream job only being positive in any situation.

But in reality, it’s not so easy to avoid negative emotions regarding employment, moreover when job refusals are so common.

So how can we always be proactive and not lose heart?

How to find a job you deserve?

Here are things to remember!

5 pieces of advice for finding a job

1. A well-made CV will help you to find a job!

In case you have a ready CV, you must attentively revise and, probably, edit it.

When writing a CV, most people try to fill it with as much personal information as possible, but employers usually don’t need it all.

Some professional HRs state that every application requires a separate CV.

But this method is very time-consuming. It’s more wisely to have three types of CVs:

Most frequently, if you read job offers, you can understand right away which type of an employee the company needs, so you would be able to adjust your CV.

2. Your cover letter will help you to find a job!

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
Confucius

Many applicants make a huge mistake attaching to their CVs a template cover letter.

But a tailor-cut cover letter is as important as a perfectly suitable CV! Its contents are also essential for demonstrating the employee’s best qualities.

Please state in your cover letter your personal benefit for the company and why it is you who must be employed.

Write the letter so that it would attract attention. This form of address must convey your highest interest in the position you apply for!

Do you want to find a worthy job?

Then don’t be lazy, consider these tips and improve your future!

3. A change of qualification can help to find a job!

Those who cannot find a job for a long time in a certain field might consider expanding their horizons and try to apply their skills in a different professional sphere.

Spend some time thinking of how you can implement your talents in other fields and you will certainly find new ways for achieving success!

4. If you want to find a good job, set new goals!

It’s sad when your job-seeking attempts of finding a job aren’t crowned with success.

Probably, you must change your search tactics?

For instance, you could start a special must-do list the fulfillment of which will help you achieve your ultimate goal.

If you patiently carry out all the assignments of your list, you won’t feel stuck in you work search. Sooner or later you will succeed.

5. You can find a job at different events!

Attend various events.

Visiting all possible exhibitions and events devoted to employment and recruiting can be quite exciting for job seekers. There you can not only easily find a job, but also make acquaintances with important people who will enrich you with new knowledge and experience.

The main thing in job seeking is to never give up!

Anyone who takes all of the above seriously, compiles a suitable resume, writes a catching cover letter, defines the direction for his development, sets for himself new goals and attends as many exhibitions and events as possible will certainly find a great job in a short time!

10 Steps to Find a New Job

Are you looking for a new job? What’s the best way to start a job search, find companies who want to interview you, and get hired?

Here are ten steps you can take to find a new job, including where to look for jobs, the top job sites to use, how to use your connections to boost your job hunt, how to ace the interview, how to follow up, and more advice on how to get hired for your next job.

Find the Best Job Listings

What are the best sites to use to find job openings fast? Check out the best job search engine sites, job boards, company websites, networking sites, niche job sites, and sites listed by type of job.

Also, consider working with a recruiter to maximize your opportunities. Review a list of the best job sites to use to get started.

Keep Your Job Search Focused

When you’re searching for jobs, use advanced search options to find jobs by using keywords that match your interests, the type of job you’re looking for, and the location where you want to work.

Narrowing your search criteria will help you focus your job search and give you more relevant job listings to review and fewer non-relevant job listings to weed through. Use advanced search options to drill down to the location where you want to work and the specific positions you’re interested in.

Build Your Professional Brand

Create profiles on LinkedIn and other networking sites. A strong personal brand that portrays you in a professional light will provide recruiters, employers, and contacts with a strong positive impression of you as a candidate they should be interested in.

These simple tips will help you build a better LinkedIn profile.

Connect With Your Contacts

Now that you’ve created profiles on networking sites, start using them. Connect with everyone you know, because you never know which contact may be able to help you with your job search or put you in touch with someone who can.

If you’re a college graduate, check out the networking opportunities available for alumni from your university. Do you belong to a professional association? It will be another good source for networking leads.

Use Job Search Apps and Tools

There are a variety of apps, widgets, gadgets, and tools that will help you to expedite your job search and manage your career. Use them to organize your job search and save valuable job searching time. You’ll be able to do many of your job search activities from your smartphone or tablet.

Create a List of Companies You’d Love to Work For

Do you have a list of companies you would like to work for? If not, it’s a good idea to research company information and create a list of companies to target in your job search. All the information you need is available on the web, and it’s easy to find detailed information about potential employers online.

Once you have a list of dream employers you’d love to work for, you can do some special outreach to get your application noticed. You may even be able to sign up to get email notifications for new job openings immediately after they are posted.

Take the Time to Target Your Resume and Cover Letter

How do employers know that you’ve got the skills they are looking for? You’ll need to show them. It’s important to take the time to write targeted resumes and cover letters that specifically link your qualifications to the hiring criteria for the jobs you are applying for.

The hiring manager will be able to see, at a glance, why and how you are qualified for the job. You’ll have a much better chance of getting an interview than if you merely sent a generic letter and resume.

Prepare to Ace the Interview

Taking the time, in advance, to prepare for an interview will help you succeed. The more prepared you are, the less stressful it will be.

Research the company before you go for the interview, dress appropriately, practice answering and asking interview questions, and make a concerted effort to impress the interviewer with your skills, experience, confidence, and expertise.

Don’t Forget to Follow Up

It’s important to follow up after an interview by thanking everyone you met with. Also, reiterate your interest in the position and remind the hiring manager why you’re an excellent candidate for the job.

Everyone likes to be appreciated, and a quick email or note thanking the interviewer for his or her time will give you another opportunity to make a good impression.

Accept (or Decline) a Job Offer

When you receive a job offer, it’s important to take the time to carefully evaluate the offer so you are making an educated decision to accept, or to reject, it.

You don’t have to accept a job just because it was offered to you, but do carefully evaluate it and if you decline, do so politely. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a «yes» or «no» decision. You may be able to negotiate the terms by making a counter offer. Or, you may be able to negotiate some extra perks that would make the job more enticing.

10 smarter ways to find a job

Updated by Nele van Hout
26 April 2022

Whether you’re a fresh graduate or someone who’s been in the job market for years – job hunting is tough. Have you tried rethinking your approach to finding a job?

There’s no denying it – searching for jobs really is a full-time job in itself and, alas, it doesn’t get much easier as you get older.

Feeling a bit like you’re going round in circles and getting nowhere with it? Sometimes, it can be helpful to take a step back and really think about your approach before bashing out the job applications.

Taking a different angle can give you a fresh boost of confidence if you’re feeling in a rut, and hopefully find you that job opportunity you’ve been searching for.

Job competition is tough

Our main word of advice to job searchers is this: don’t just think in terms of ticking the boxes and meeting the criteria that an employer is looking for.

Applying for jobs is about really selling yourself to a potential employer – why should they pick you over other applicants? Think about how you can stand out from the crowd.

This is often overlooked by students who search for jobs by dropping impersonal CVs and cover letters into high street retail stores and bars.

How you handle the application process is a reflection of the kind of employee you are: come across like you’re not putting the effort in at this stage of the game, and it won’t impress anyone.

Also, try not to let failed applications knock your confidence too much. Remember the theory of ‘survival of the fittest‘ in secondary school? Well, this applies to the job market too.

Those who are willing to mutate (in approach) and take each rejection letter like water off a duck’s back are likely to succeed. Keep reminding yourself of this!

10 steps for finding a job

To get you started on your whole new, smarter approach to job hunting, here are 10 tips that you may never have thought of when attempting to nail that student or graduate job application.

Try online networking

Get plugged into career networking sites like LinkedIn. You might think this is a step ahead of yourself if you’re still studying, but it actually looks great to employers if you’re already keen to know what’s going on in the job market before you’ve even graduated.

Join discussion groups for industries you’re interested in and start building your social network to keep in the loop for the latest job offers.

Following companies that you like and commenting on their posts is also a great way to get noticed, although remember to keep your comments professional.

Note that it’s also bad etiquette to add anyone on LinkedIn who you don’t already know, so going on a mad connection-adding spree won’t work in your favour. Check out our guide to using LinkedIn to find a job and you’ll nail this bit.

Talk to friends and family

Credit: Dusan Petkovic – Shutterstock

Staff referral is one of the most popular methods used for recruitment by employers, as companies often prefer to hire someone who their trusted employees can vouch for.

Take advantage of this by asking around friends and family who work in industries you’d like to explore. This can often result in you finding out about vacancies before the competition does, and instantly puts you at an advantage if someone can recommend you.

Go beyond job listings

Sometimes sticking to job listings isn’t the best way to move forward.

Focusing on specific companies rather than vacancies can work in your favour, as when you move on to the application process, you’ll already have an interest in the company. That should shine through in what you say, as opposed to just submitting an application because there’s a job up for grabs.

Keep an eye on job listings, of course, but if you see a few positions going at a great company and none of the roles are suitable for you, send them a CV and cover letter anyway (remember: sell yourself!).

If a company is posting more than one vacancy at once, it’s a sign that they’re expanding. This means it’s the perfect time to make yourself known to them and show them what you’ve got.

Expand your search (and your mind)

Particularly thanks to technology, the job market is constantly evolving at such a pace that there are heaps of jobs out there that you’ve probably never even heard of – and that didn’t exist back when you were speaking to your careers counsellor at school.

For example, do you know what a UX designer is? How about a Content Marketer, a Backend Developer or a Growth Hacker? It’s worth putting some research into this, as you might find that once you get past the unfamiliar names, these are roles you’d be interested in trying out.

Choosing to go down a less traditional career path can also mean less competition, and you might find there are more opportunities available if you expand your horizons and start looking at more niche positions.

Be confident and personable

As we mentioned earlier, how you handle the application process will give potential employers an idea of the kind of worker you are.

For example, someone who takes initiative by emailing a senior member of staff to ask for a coffee will give off a much more positive, go-getter impression than someone who just sends in a flat CV and copy/pasted cover letter.

However, make sure that if you go for this option, you do some serious research about the company before you make your move. You don’t want to be caught out as not really understanding who the company are and what they do, as it would make all your effort go to nothing.

Of course, we’re not suggesting you barge into an office asking for work, but just asking to speak to someone from HR so you can tell them how amazing you think the company is will get you some serious gold stars next to your CV.

The chances are, you’ll stand out in their memory when they reach the decision-making stage.

Work for your university

There are hundreds of part-time jobs on campus for students, including bar work, events work, admin jobs and giving guided tours to prospective students.

With decent pay and hours (as well as usually being quite close to your dorm room and your lecture theatres), these jobs are gold dust.

It also helps that the university already knows you, so are likely to be able to provide a glowing reference when you look for work after uni. Our advice would be to apply early, as these jobs tend to disappear quickly.

Try an internship

This is a particularly good option if you’re taking our suggestion from tip number four on board and trying out some unchartered territory within the job market.

If a position is unfamiliar, it’s important you get a chance to try it out before you decide if it’s for you.

At Save the Student, we’re against unpaid internships as we’re of the belief that no one should have to work for free but use your own judgement on this one.

If you think you’d benefit from getting a bit of work experience before deciding if a certain career is right for you, maybe offering to do a month unpaid at a nice company would work well. Should you go for a position without a salary, check out our guide to surviving an unpaid internship.

However, know your rights when it comes to internships. Unfortunately, some companies will take advantage of young people looking to kick-start their careers by making them work a full-time position without paying up.

Paid internships are really common these days. Although they don’t pay much, you’ll pick up invaluable skills, experience, and contacts relating directly to your preferred business and industry that will be extremely useful later.

Either that, or if the position goes particularly well, you might even get a job out of it!

Try a recruitment agency

Finding work through a recruitment agency can be a good choice, particularly if you find the whole idea of selling yourself particularly tough – recruiters are paid to do that bit for you.

Recruitment agencies regularly and actively search for work on your behalf, so this, of course, can lighten the burden a bit if you’re finding trawling for jobs particularly tiresome, and it can bag you a job quicker than expected.

However, while there are big positives, do be aware that temp work sourced by recruitment agencies can often involve a whole lot of licking envelopes for minimum wage, and nothing more inspiring.

Agency work for students tends to be poorly paid, often pretty boring and (depending on the job) lacking in long-term security and prospects.

Check out careers fairs

Careers and graduate fairs aren’t just about the freebies (although these are always a welcome perk!).

These fairs are a fantastic opportunity to meet and talk directly to big-time employers and recruiters. Remember, they’ve paid for the stall they’re standing at for the sole purpose of speaking to job-seekers like you, so take advantage of being in this rare position.

Make the most of the opportunity to network and be informed about application processes and chances.

Also, don’t forget to bring a notepad. Write down the names, positions and email addresses of the people you talk to and send them a follow-up email afterwards (just a quick ‘hello’ to say how nice it was to meet them and get you on their radar).

Become your own boss

Many students and graduates often feel discouraged from starting their own business due to risk or the lack of security it offers.

Although becoming your own boss can seem like a scary move, if you have a big idea and the motivation to push it then this could be the smartest move you ever make.

Our Head Honcho, Owen, began Save the Student as his own business venture while he was still studying for his Geography degree and never looked back (you can read more about Save the Student’s story if you’re interested).

There are a growing number of organisations and websites designed specifically to help young entrepreneurs succeed in business. Check out our guide to raising capital for your startup for tips on getting a business off the ground.

If after the first year you decide it’s not for you, then that’s something valuable you’ve learned for life and (hopefully) you’ll have no regrets in having tried. It will also look amazing on your CV.

What about job websites?

Of course, you should keep up your assault on more traditional methods of finding a job: you never know where an opportunity might come from. The point of this article is to get you thinking deeper and wider in your job search.

There’s no harm in submitting your details to job sites with specifics about the kind of positions you’re interested in. The sites will then send you email notifications when something that meets your criteria comes up.

It’s worth signing up for a few of these so you don’t miss any great opportunities, but do be aware that this can then result in your inbox taking a serious hit.

For more information on which job sites to hit up, check out our article on student job websites. Also, try to stay away from unregulated websites like Gumtree, which often list a host of misleading and sometimes dangerous job ‘opportunities’ (especially for women).

Always be on your guard against scam opportunities and remember that your safety is way more important than finding a job. If it sounds too good to be true.

Why not boost your CV with one of these free courses with qualifications to make you the shiniest candidate out there.

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Finding a job is exciting, overwhelming and scary all at once. This guide will give you tips on how to answer important interview questions, how to present yourself confidently and how to ultimately feel totally prepared to get that dream job.

How to Find a Job

Your first job sets the stage for the rest of your career, but finding the right one is easier said than done.

For one, picking a path is an educated guess at best, because we all discover new sides of ourselves when we start working. That said, you probably have some general ideas about your strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t like uncertainty or find yourself getting impatient with people quickly, a sales role — where ever-looming quotas are met through sending cold emails and spending hours on the phone with strangers — probably isn’t for you. But if you love meeting new people and you’ve got a competitive streak, you might enjoy the process of perfecting your pitches and email subject lines.

Or maybe software development, product management or recruiting is more your speed?

No matter what kind of job you’re looking for, you need to get a handle on the application and interview process. Getting a foot in the door requires you to convince a hiring manager that although you may not have the skills your job requires yet, you are more likely than other candidates to pick them up quickly. Doing so requires you to connect the dots between your past experience and the listed job responsibilities in a way that makes it easy to see you in the role.

There’s no substitute for carefully reading the job description carefully, reflecting on it and practicing enough to come off as confident and polished. But understanding the process can still give you a leg up against the competition.

The following is a collection of insights about finding a job from recruiters, hiring managers and employees at some of the world’s most successful tech companies. Read on for their advice on everything from commonly asked interview questions to the signs you should look for to find a company whose values align with yours.

Answering Common Interview Questions

A perfect answer to “tell me about yourself” won’t land you a job, but bad answer might significantly reduce your chances. Here’s what you need to know about popular interview questions:

Phone interviews may seem like low-pressure get-to-know-you calls, but thinking about them that way is a huge mistake. The phone interview is your one shot to make a good first impression, and you need to get it right to proceed to the next round. Most companies tend to ask similar questions at this stage, but your answers may tell recruiters more about you than they appear to at first glance. Prepare with our primer on popular questions — along with some pointers on what recruiters look for in your answer.

Answering “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” can be a tricky balancing act. If your answer veers too far from the role you’re interviewing for, hiring managers may worry that you’re not interested in the job at hand. At the same time, you don’t want to come off as lacking in ambition by suggesting that you’re happy to stay at the entry level forever. According to experts interviewed by Built In, the most important prep you can do is take a moment to really think about what you want from your career. From there, come up with an answer that emphasizes the skills you’d like to develop in your next job and the responsibilities you want to take on over time.

According to former career advisor Jeremy Schifeling, “Tell me about yourself” might be the most important question you’ll encounter in an interview — so don’t waste it by going over every item on your resume. Instead, devise an answer that sets the tone for the rest of the conversation and establishes what you can bring to the team. Important points to cover include what gets you excited, what kinds of accomplishments you’ve been responsible for in the past and how your prior work experience applies to the role you’re currently interviewing for. Once you’ve nailed down the particulars of your story, trim it down to size and practice telling it.

The real answer to this question might be that you need the money or the experience, but if you want the job, you’ll have to do better than that. Good answers to this question reflect that you’ve done your research about the company and point to what you like about what you’ve learned. For example, if the company you’re interviewing for is an early stage startup, emphasize that you’re excited about the opportunity to take on new challenges as the organization grows. And if the company’s product or mission excites you, this is a good time to explain why that is.

At its core, this question is what the entire hiring process is about — but it can be hard to answer when it’s put in such stark terms. Highlight how your past experience aligns with the job at hand and what transferable skills you’re bringing to the table. You’d also do well to convey your enthusiasm for the work you’ll be doing, and, if possible, share concrete examples of how you’ve made a difference on past teams you’ve been part of. Doing all this without sounding boastful can be tricky, which is why it’s important to prepare for this question in advance.

How to Present Yourself Confidently and Competently

Your resume plays an important role in the application process, but your background isn’t everything — in fact, it might not even be the most important thing. Equally important is how you conduct yourself throughout the process, and how your stories reflect what you’re like to work with.

Answering interview questions thoughtfully is important, but your answers are only part of what a hiring manager is looking for in an interview. Equally important is how you answer the questions, and the hints about what you’re like to work with that shine through in the conversation. Thankfully, some basic preparation — like reading up on a company ahead of time, writing a list of questions and taking notes throughout the interview — can go a long way in helping you come off as more polished. We spoke with career coaches about what interviewers watch for, and how you should prepare to put your best foot forward.

Talking about your own strengths can sometimes feel uncomfortable, but it’s a skill you’ll have to master if you want to get ahead. The key to getting it right is to ask people who’ll be honest with you about what they think your strengths are, and to think about specific stories that illustrate them. You should also make sure to highlight strengths that are relevant to the job you’re interviewing for — your virtuosic guitar talents won’t land you a job as a web designer. Perhaps most important, however, is approaching the exercise with confidence. It might be tempting to undermine yourself with self-deprecating jokes or to qualify your answers with phrases like “or so I’ve been told.” You shouldn’t.

Unlike technical questions that get at what you know, behavioral questions focus on how you work with others. Common questions tend to focus on things like interpersonal conflicts at work, mistakes you’ve made and times you’ve had to juggle competing priorities. To prepare for behavioral questions in your interview, make a list of the most challenging moments you’ve confronted in your career and think about what you learned from those experiences. Be sure to distill them down to the important details, and don’t fall for the temptation to blame everyone but yourself — a big part of what interviewers look for is whether you can admit when you’re in the wrong.

You might walk out of an interview with a sigh of relief, but one important step still remains: the “thank you” email. It might seem perfunctory, and some hiring managers don’t care, but some see the email as an indicator of a candidate’s ability to follow through. Thankfully, a simple message will do — and we’ve even put together some email templates you can repurpose.

Other Ways to Prepare for Your Job Search

Networking is about building long-term relationships, so it’s not something you can put off until you’re looking for your next job. To build a network you can rely on, you need to become someone others can rely on, too. Get to know people whose work interests align with yours, and offer to help whenever you can. Also, keep in mind that the quality of your connections is far more important than the quantity. A second-degree connection might pull some strings and land you an interview, but a trusted acquaintance who will vouch for you can land you the job.

You may not have dreamed about a specific job since childhood, but dream jobs can come in many forms. Some people want to solve problems they really care about. For some, it’s less about the work itself, and more about great coworkers and enough work-life balance to make room for hobbies and travel. Whatever your dream job or work setup might be, it could be more attainable than it seems. Here’s what you need to know to start looking.

Informational interviews are not like other interviews — for one, you’re the one who will be asking the questions. The intention behind these conversations is to gain a deeper understanding of a company, a specific job or an industry, and what the path of ending up there might look like for you. Since the person you’re interviewing is offering up their precious time, be sure to come prepared with some thoughtful questions. Some good starting points would be to try and understand what the interviewee’s career path looked like, how the job or industry might be different from how it appears from the outside, and what the best — and the most challenging — parts of the job are.