If you are looking for a job, whether it’s to get your foot in the door, or to take your career to the next level, the only person who can find the right job for you – is you. You know all the details about you: what experience and training skills you have, the location you would like to find work, the market/niche you want to work in, and with what companies.
But where do you look to find the best jobs?
Classified Ads
Remember those? It wasn’t too long ago that the best place to look for a job opportunity was in the local and major newspapers in your city or town. I can remember many a time flipping the Want Ad pages in the Boston Globe on a Sunday, looking for professional jobs, circling or cutting out the jobs I was interested in and qualified for, and calling the contacts on Monday. This was rather a time-consuming process, but when you’re motivated, you get it done.
The Internet
Looking for jobs in the newspaper was soon replaced by the ever-growing Internet of Things. Nowadays, meaning the last 15 years or so, job boards like Indeed, Simply Hired, Monster, and Career Builder, to name a few, are a fantastic resources when looking for a job opportunity. Most, if not all, job boards give you the ability to set up custom searches and send you an email with the list of jobs. Job boards not just on the local level, but across the country and the globe.
For example, on the SimplyHired website, I enter keywords in the search field and a city and town (you can omit city/town, and it will search country-wide), and at the snap of a finger, I’m looking at countless job opportunities. You can adjust the radius, filters, last date posted, and job type to find the right job for you. At the top left of the results page is a simple box that says, “Email jobs like this to me”, enter your email address, verify it, and now once a day, I’ll get job opportunities emailed to me.
It can’t get any easier than this to find jobs, curated to your specifications and in the locations where you want to work.
Getting the Inside Scoop
You found a job, but you don’t know anything about the company, pay scale, career advancement, etc. How do you get the inside scoop?
One way to get behind the closed doors of a company is through your connections on social media. Conversations are being shared in the billions daily on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Social media is word-of-mouth on steroids. Join and participate in groups on LinkedIn and Facebook that are in the specific market you are looking to be in. Ask questions about the company, what the job entails, and pay. Read the responses and take them into consideration – both positive and negative.
Another great tool to get the inside scoop on a company is websites like Glass Door and Career Bliss. These websites are full of feedback on companies from actual current and former employees.
Others Who Curate Jobs for You
There are others, mostly training providers, who add curated job opportunities to blogs and forums, sometimes as a perk, to those who took their training. While there is nothing wrong with that, just be aware that those same jobs are available on several free job boards. Jobs curated by others is just making it easier for you to find job opportunities, to let you know that there are jobs out there, but only you can find the right job for you.
