Finding a job - Image of a desk and chair in an office with a notebook and a box with the new employee's belongings

Career

Finding a job: 10 tips on how to find a good job

Check out the best strategies to be hired.

Ana Codeglia

03/06/2020 | By Ana Codeglia

What will we see in this post

Are you looking for a job? Have you already sent out hundreds of resumes and you still haven’t obtained good results? Have you wondered what you’re doing wrong?

We know that you might be feeling frustrated; after all, pounding the pavement for a new job opportunity can be quite tiring. 

Applying for numerous job openings and only receiving a few calls, going to interviews and not getting any callbacks or hearing that there are no job openings is truly frustrating.

Therefore, it’s important to be well prepared before you start looking for a new job, and above all, learn how to take advantage of any opportunity before entering the job market.

There is plenty of material on the internet and even books written by experts in the area, offering many tips on how to find a job and be successful. But we know that people, who are looking for employment, usually don’t have the time to read all of this material, since their priority is finding a good job as soon as possible.

For this reason, we’ve put together the top 10 tips to teach you how to find a job, which will certainly be very useful. 

Shall we get to them? 

10 tips on how to find a good job

1.   Focus on a goal

The first step you should take towards finding a job is having a goal and focusing on it. 

We know that for many people, the fact that they aren’t working is a source of stress and even despair, but you need to stay calm.

Instead of applying to hundreds of job openings, which often have nothing to do with your talents and skills, be very clear about your goals.

And how do you do this? 

It’s very simple. Think about the job you want, which matches your academic profile or that requires your skillset.

With this in mind, you can start looking for a job and make a list of the companies where you would like to work. Contact them on their social media or website and ask for a list of job openings.

Signing up for job offers that match your profile will make your search much easier.

2. Network

Meeting people is a great way of getting a job, but this doesn’t mean that you should hand out business cards indiscriminately. 

Focus on the people with whom you can build a relationship. Think of someone whom you can help and who might have an opportunity for you.

Networking is about exchanging knowledge, helping each other and collaborating, and not merely handing out business cards or “friending” someone on social media.

Be interested in getting to know people who work in your area and who, in the future, might recommend you to work in their company, for example.

When you least expect it, someone may give you the chance of a lifetime!

3. Use social media

Social media is also very useful for finding a job. 

Every day, hundreds of recruiters go online to find professionals to fill their job openings. Therefore, it’s important that you create a profile on social media, especially on LinkedIn.

Make sure you add a profile photo in which you demonstrate professionalism, highlight your skillset, and indicate your academic background and previous experience.

4. Use job search websites

On the internet, you can find hundreds of pages where you can find job openings according to your professional profile, location and even according to the position you would like to occupy. Career Builder, Glassdoor and Indeed are a few options.

5. Have a good resume

A good resume is your best cover letter when it comes to finding a job. Some professionals who have all the skills to fill certain positions are often overlooked because of a bad resume.

Your resume needs to show the company that you are the ideal applicant to cover its needs. So, highlight your strengths so that when recruiters read your resume, they believe that you are the person they are looking for.

Also:

  • Only include information that is truly relevant
  • Select the most important information and highlight it
  • Don’t forget to add your contact information, such as email address and phone number;
  • Pay attention to your resume’s formatting and organization
  • Perform a grammatical and spelling review.

6. Always seek more knowledge

Searching for a job doesn’t mean that you should ignore your professional training. Quite the contrary! 

It’s important that you take advantage of your free time to prepare yourself and obtain more knowledge, which will help you stand out in the job market.

Sign up for training programs or courses (online or onsite) in order to stay up to date. 

You can even sign up for events that not only allow you to learn a lot more, but also give you the chance to meet new people and network with quality.

7. Do volunteer work

Taking part in volunteer work is a great way of meeting new people, staying active and finding a good job. They say that opportunities are everywhere; you just have to go out and find them.

If you still don’t know how to look for a job, make yourself get out of your comfort zone and join this type of initiative!

8. Develop your personal brand

Building your personal brand is something that will go a long way into helping your career. 

When you develop your personal brand, you can position yourself as an expert in a niche market, have the opportunity of sending a unique message and set yourself apart from the other candidates.

You will notice that by being seen as a benchmark in your field, the path to finding your ideal job will be much easier.

9. Be well prepared for the interviews

A job interview is your best shot at convincing employers to hire you. That’s why it’s important for you to be well prepared and avoid improvising too much.

Check out a few overall tips that may help you:

Attire:

  • Use your time to research the company’s culture and its dress code. With this information, you will find out how formal or informal you should dress for the meeting.
  • Wear a comfortable outfit that conveys your personality.

What not to say:

Certain comments might ruin your interview and negatively affect your odds of finding a job. This is what you should avoid at any cost: 

  • Don’t make negative comments about other people or companies, i.e., don’t be disloyal and don’t criticize other co-workers.
  • Don’t lie. We know that you probably want to impress your interviewer, but this doesn’t mean that you have to lie. Be honest, we guarantee that this will be appreciated.
  • Avoid being self-centered.
  • I don’t have any questions. Saying that you don’t have any questions shows a lack of interest. Use your interview to clear up all of your doubts.
  • Don’t ask about your salary and paid vacation during your first interview, this might give the impression that you’re already sure that you’ll be hired. 

A few tricks to stand out:

  • Research the company before you go in for your interview.
  • Value yourself and learn how to promote yourself. Highlight your strengths, knowledge, and skills.
  • Be positive, smile and show enthusiasm in becoming part of the company.
  • Watch your verbal and body language. Avoid sudden movements or twitching.

10. Be confident

There is nothing more attractive for a recruiter than professionals who have confidence in themselves and in their skills. 

Therefore, another valuable tip on how to find a job is to work on your confidence. To do so, you can search for content on blogs, in books, videos, on YouTube or in motivational talks.

If you feel that confidence is your weak point, you can also hire a coach to guide and advise you in a personalized manner.

Other opportunities for those looking for a job

If you are here and want to know how to find a job, you have possibly been looking for an opening for some time now and still haven’t succeeded. Therefore, to help you stay busy; we have selected a few opportunities to help you generate income from home.

And if you simply aren’t the type of person who is willing to adhere to office hours and having to answer to a boss, these tips are also for you!  

Selling online courses

Do you have specific knowledge that might interest someone else? 

We bet you do! And selling online courses is a great way of working from home and generating extra income.

This is a type of digital business with many advantages. One of them is that you don’t need to make an initial investment in order to start selling your courses. 

So, even if you don’t have any money, this won’t be a problem.

Other advantages are that you can sell them worldwide, i.e., you don’t have to worry about logistics or shipping issues. Besides, you have flexibility regarding the topics to be addressed in the course (health and sports, education, interpersonal relationships, personal development, leisure, development and career, and much more).

Selling ebooks

An ebook or electronic book is a digital product with which you can also obtain significant income and achieve the financial independence you have been dreaming about. Besides, selling e-books is a great way of transforming your knowledge into a benefit and working from home while being your own boss.

Surely, you have knowledge that might interest other people. Think about it and find something that you can turn into your first digital book.

Create a blog

Creating a blog is a great way of sharing knowledge, expressing yourself and making money! Yes, that’s right; with a blog, you can earn income. And the best thing is that you don’t need to invest money in order to get started and can do it all on your own.

In order to create a blog, the first step is to choose a topic. 

Is traveling your passion? Are you knowledgeable about nutrition? Are you a good public speaker? 

Any topic is useful when it comes to creating blogs. Ideally, you should cover topics that you enjoy and that are obviously interesting to other people.

A blog can be profitable in many ways, such as working as an Affiliate, selling digital products, offering tips or working with Google AdSense (ads).

Anyone can make money with a blog. You don’t have to be an expert to make this happen. 

The important thing is that, once you decide to work with this, you need to devote time, have a lot of concentration and determination, since your blog won’t make money within a few days or weeks.

But don’t worry; all your efforts will be worthwhile when you start reaping the results.

(Still don’t know where to start? Read our post that will teach you the steps on how to create a blog.)

Create a YouTube channel

Being a YouTuber is also a great way of making money on the internet. In short, this means posting interesting and relevant videos on YouTube and generating income in different ways (for example: being paid for the number of ad views placed on your videos).

Best of all, you don’t need an initial investment to get started. You just need to pick the subject and start recording the videos. 

But of course, you need to pay attention to the quality of the recording and editing of your videos and the content you post.

There are many ways of making money with YouTube. In addition to the ads that can be placed on your channel, there are other ways to monetize your videos, such as advertising products and becoming a digital influencer, participating in events in your niche market.

Many other possibilities

Decorating cakes, giving dance lessons, teaching a language, giving cooking lessons or offering a course in arts and crafts. There are countless options for you to undertake, everything is a matter of attitude and determination.

If you feel that you need more inspiration in order to undertake and become your own boss, check out our post with over 30 in-demand business ideas. You will certainly find one that could become a reality.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed our tips on how to find a job and that you find the opportunity you’ve been waiting for! 

On the other hand, if you like the idea of starting your own business a lot more, check out one of our posts on everything you need to know in order to create your online course.

Good luck!