Is it time to find a new job?
Many of us spent a large portion of 2020 being thankful that we had a job—there didn't seem to be room to evaluate toxic workplaces, bad bosses, or to say no to jobs or tasks that did not serve you.
Now that some time has passed and we've been thinking about our priorities, many of us might find ourselves re-evaluating relationships, living situations, and, of course, our jobs. All of a sudden, we can't abide by what isn't serving us.
If you find yourself happy with all of the above, that’s incredible. If you find yourself less than satisfied with your employment situation, it might be time to start looking for a new job. And because every job search situation is different, we tackled a few different job search options.
- How to Find a Job Online
- How to Find a Job Through Connections
- How to Find a Job in a New City
- How to Find a Job in a New Field
Whether you are looking for a job in your field, in a new industry, or across the country—we’ve got you covered in this guide.
How to Find a Job Online
Long gone are the days when you might take red ink to the Classifieds section of the newspaper. Instead, the first place a modern job seeker looks is on the internet.
Job searching on the internet is both easy and difficult. But applying exclusively online can lead the modern jobseeker into an abyss of options. And because many job boards send your resume straight into an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), you might be left wondering if an actual hiring manager will ever even see your resume. Here are our hacks to weed through job postings to find the right one for you.
Pro Tip: You can even use AI to help streamline your job search! Learn how to make your job search easier with ChatGPT.
The Hack: Always Customize Your Application
Spoiler alert: you might not like this hack because it requires a bit of work. We know, we know.
"Hacks" are supposed to be quick and easy solutions, but we all want our next career move to be great, right? When you calculate that the average job search can take five months, making sure to tailor your applications materials can shave weeks (and dozens of applications) off. So, yes, it's a hack!
Getting a new job can feel a lot like moving. It's cumbersome, it requires a lot of packing and unpacking (literally and figuratively), and, when you finally do it, you really don't want to have to do it again for a long, long time—or maybe ever.
So, here's our "hack" for your next job search. Customize everything—your cover letter, your resume—everything. A huge mistake job seekers make, especially when they're exhausted by their current job, is to apply to everything. This approach wastes everybody's time—yours, recruiters, and hiring managers.
The argument is that "it's a numbers game," which is the same method your resident "dive bar Lotharios" uses when hitting on women. So...let's not use that approach?
Take care when applying to a job that you really want, at the company where you really want to be working. Customize your cover letter and your resume for the job at hand.
Do thorough research on the organization. Scour your LinkedIn connections in order to determine whether you have one within the company.
The Hack: The Company-First Approach
In our best-selling course, The Job Search Academy, we turn the hob search on its head, sort of. Instead of searching for your job position and applying to everything that comes up, hone in on companies that match your interests, your skills, and your values.
Instead of hanging out on ZipRecruiter and Monster, hitting refresh over and over, go directly to a company's career websites. Here, you might find jobs that are not hitting on the bigger job search sites. They might not have been posted it!
You can also set up job alerts on the big job sites. Simply create an alert with the company name and get notified anytime they have vacancies.
Create your shortlist of specific companies—and unlock a potentially hidden job market by considering roles you didn't even know could be the perfect fit!
The Hack: Speak Like the ATS
The trick to beating the ATS lies in the job description itself. When applying for a specific job, refer to the job description. For example, if the requirements mention fluency in Adobe CS, make sure your resume (and your cover letter) mention that you are, indeed, fluent in Adobe CS.
Scan any job description for the “keywords” associated with the job at hand. Tailor your application to highlight these skills in order to send the ATS wild for you! Your application is sure to be shared with the hiring manager if you’ve used the proper keywords in your application materials.
How to Find a Job Through Connections
Studies have shown that 70-85 percent of jobs are filled through some means of networking. Hiring is an expensive (and time-consuming) process for any company. Finding a qualified applicant who is already connected to a current employee will generally translate to an attractive hire option.
This is also where the internet becomes a bit of a drawback—if an applicant is attempting to conduct a low-visibility job search, activating her entire social network is going to be tough.
The Hack: Utilize Your Connections
Every social platform has some variation of private messaging. Go ahead and slide into the DMs of your friends who work at your dream company or your former roommate who knows someone (who knows someone else). Who knows? They might even have insights about job opportunities you hadn't yet considered.
The job hunt is a pain universally recognized. Everybody has had to depart their comfort zone in order to ask for small favors in their own job search. So even if your connection is a small one, use it. Find a social network (or email if you have access) in which your contact is most active, and don’t be afraid to reach out.
When composing these messages, be specific, be personal, and be gracious. If you do score a connection (or even if you don’t), always make sure to follow up with a word of thanks.
If this kind of cold contacting freaks you out (don’t worry, you have nothing to lose), download our networking templates, where we’ve done most of the writing for you. You’ve got this.
How to Find a Job in a New City
Is it time to sprout wings and leave your hometown? Do you live in a fast-paced city where rent is growing too unaffordable (aren’t we all?) to survive? Whatever the reason, it might be time to find a job in a new city.
Job searching in a new city provides its own set of challenges. Most companies will communicate whether they are open to a relocation hire within the application. However, sometimes landing the job is still...complicated.
The Hack: Be Honest About Relocation
I struggled with what tip to share in this section. The really hacky tip I avoided sharing (even though I am going to do it now) is listing a different address on your resume. There are circumstances in which I think this tip works. If this address belongs to your sister, with whom you could stay semi-longterm, then use the address. If the address is an abandoned field (or entirely made up) do not use it.
The truth is that a local address might get you in the door in a new city. However, you want to be forthright in the application and interview process. If a potential employer finds out you don’t live in the area, that sets off all kinds of dishonesty bells and whistles.
This is seemingly obvious advice, but here it is anyway: be honest in your application process.
If you can stay at your sister’s local apartment, be upfront about it. Tell your potential employer that the address listed is a viable long-term option, but that you are serious about permanent relocation upon employment.
How to Find a Job in a New Field
Finding a job in a new field is a daunting (but exciting!) process. If you've ever known someone who has switched career paths in the past, then you know that it is a real possibility.
What we're not here to tell you is that it can happen in a day. It’s not likely that you can transition from social media specialist to a board-certified dermatologist this week, but you can make moves to get that train started. If you’re motivated enough to seek them out, resources exist to learn the fundamentals of some of the most well-paid jobs hiring today.
The Hack: Freelance at Your Dream Position
Not everyone is in the position to take a substantial pay cut to essentially re-enter the workforce as an entry-level employee. However, with the gig economy growing at lightning speed, you can wet your feet with freelance work in your desired field.
If you are a 9-to-5 accountant who dreams of being a graphic artist, it’s a very possible transition. The growing gig economy means that freelance projects are constantly being offered at sites like Upwork and Fiverr. Once you clock out of your accounting job, pick up a freelance job or two. You can use smaller jobs like these to build your portfolio. Once you’ve built a body of work, you might find yourself in the position to begin applying to jobs in your new field. (Pro tip: we have an entire online course that teaches you how to switch jobs right here.)
The Other Hack: Tell a Story in Your Cover Letter
Be very upfront in your interview process within a new industry. Any smart employer will recognize that passion and determination can outweigh even the most refined skill sets.
When applying to jobs in a new industry, we’d recommend outlining your new journey in your cover letter. Use this time and space to illustrate why your experience looks…different than the other applicants. It’s rare that an employer gets to read an interesting story in a cover letter.
It is never too late to switch it up. The modern employee is going to work approximately five decades before retiring. Make sure those years are as happy and fulfilling as possible.
The Other Other Hack: Identify + Fill Skills Gaps
And thanks to the internet, you can learn virtually (ha, get it) anything, right from your couch.
We’ve covered all our favorite places for continuing education before—and we even offer our own webinars, free downloadable resources, and online courses. (All great place to start, if you’re looking to transition industries or fill skills gaps.)
