Tips on Finding a Good Job

Being able to get a job is actually a skill you learn along the way.

Finding a good job can be a job in itself. Sometimes it can seem like job hunting is just an endless cycle of passing out resumes and waiting for the phone to ring. However, you can stop this pointless cycle by learning how to narrow down your search and by understanding tips on how to get the most out of your resume.

Know Yourself

You want a good job. Well, "good" means different things to different people, but you definitely need a job you can do and one you're going to keep. Employers can sense if you're a good match for a job partly by how enthusiastic you are about it, so stop wasting your time applying for jobs you don't really want.The first thing you should do before starting any job search is sit down and make a list of your past jobs. Write down every skill you learned on those jobs and everything you can do now because of those jobs. Next, circle the skills and abilities that you actually like doing at work. You'll be more likely to stay at a job if you like what you're doing. Now you have an idea of what you can do and what you also like doing, so start looking for jobs that match your circled skills and abilities.

Know Where to Look

Where you look for a job depends largely on what kind of job you want. The most common way to browse for job openings is through online job search engines, or by looking through newspapers. You can also get help through a staffing agency or any community outreach centers. Networking with people can land you a job that's not even advertised, so talk to everyone you meet: that salesperson at the mall or that cashier at the supermarket might know someone who's hiring. Finally, you might want to try walking into a business and asking to speak to a manager or a Human Resources representative face-to-face. This may seem a little intense, but you might be surprised to know how many employers will talk to you when approached in this manner. But also don't be surprised by how many won't have time for you.

Tailor Your Resume

You should have one "master" resume. This is a super resume, one that has every job you ever had and the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the businesses and all your supervisors on it. Keep an electronic copy of this resume on a disk, a thumb drive or on your computer desktop. Now here's the kicker: this resume does not go out. This resume stays right where it is. You will use this resume to make new resumes, one new resume for every job you apply for to be exact. That's right, you need to change your resume for every single job you apply to. The purpose of a resume is to get you an interview, and to get an interview, you need to show employers that you meet their stated criteria for the position. Read the job description for each job, and make your resume match it. If a job description requires two years of customer service experience, your resume better say you have two years of customer service experience. If it asks for a two-year degree, your resume should have your two-year degree right at the top. Not every employer needs to see your entire job history; you should only have the most relevant experience for that job on your resume, plus about the last five years of work history.

Don't Stop Looking

Even if you think you've found your dream job, don't stop applying for other jobs until the day you actually start working. Making it through the interview doesn't always mean you got the job, and it may take weeks or even months before you are contacted with a job offer. Even worse, if you did the interview and you aren't hired, you'll probably just never hear back from the company, so you'll be waiting for nothing. Keep applying for jobs and going to interviews until you find a job that you like and where you've been offered a salary and a work environment that you're happy with.

References

• Rockport Institute: How to Write a Masterpiece of a Resume
• Chicago Tribune: Looking for a job? Go get some coffee or hit the gym