One of the most arduous and time-consuming parts of a job hunt can often be trying to find the jobs themselves. Between sifting through all the open roles that have been posted and trying to pinpoint the ones that are right for you, the process can be overwhelming. So, we’ve compiled a list of seven tips for how to streamline your online job search.
Define what you want from a potential employer
Before you use up valuable time and energy applying to companies who ultimately aren’t a good fit, you should first set a clear outline of what you want from an employer. Do you need work that’s fast-paced or slower? Are there certain benefits that are non-negotiable for you? By starting with a full idea of the type of workplace you want, you can filter through all the places that aren’t a good fit early on in the process.
Polish up your online presence
Next, you’ll want to ensure all of your online profiles are clean and up-to-date. It’s a safe bet that potential employers and recruiters will be checking out your pages, and making a good impression there is one of the first steps in a smooth job search. Update your employment history and experience, and remove anything you wouldn’t want hiring managers to see. LinkedIn in particular is a good place to showcase your employability, and there are several tips for crafting a strong LinkedIn profile.
Experiment with different keywords
In some cases, not everyone will use the same language when describing roles. When searching for positions, also bear in mind different titles that might be given for your prospective career. After all, if you only search for “salesperson,” you might miss out on all the open “sales representative” and “account executive” roles out there. Test out various industry keywords in your search as well, to see if you can find any relevant roles that have been given a unique name.
Use advanced job search methods
If there are certain specifics you know you want taken into account when entering in a search, there are a handful of methods to help you narrow down your results:
- To search for an exact phrase, use quotation marks
- “Pastry chef”
- “Software engineer”
- To include both of two keywords in a search, use AND
- Marketing AND public relations
- Sales AND IT
- To include either of two keywords in a search, use OR
- Professor OR instructor
- Google OR Apple
- To exclude keywords from a job search, use a dash
- UX designer -senior
- Product manager -intern
- Many job boards also include built-in filters such as date posted, distance from you, salary range, and more.
Create job alerts
Everything is easier when it’s delivered straight to your inbox. Sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and more allow you to set up alerts when certain jobs that meet your criteria are posted. Whichever job boards you’re using, check to see if they have this functionality and enable it, so you now won’t have to spend as much time actively keep searching through all of the open roles every day.
Keep track of your applications
Throughout the job search process, maintain a spreadsheet of all your applications and any important information you want to remember about each. In her job search tips for coding bootcamp grads, former Hack Reactor student and current Climb software engineer AC Roselee suggests doing just this: “I kept track of the most promising job prospects, the ones I was most interested in, as a basic document answering the five Ws: who, what, when, where, why. However, if you’re more data-oriented … make a spreadsheet to keep track of where you got in the interview process, with whom you interacted, benefits, pay range, all kinds of stuff. That can be valuable data you collect as you progress through your career — not just this job search but the subsequent ones.”
Use niche job boards
Sure, sites like LinkedIn and GlassDoor are great for an online job search. But there’s also a wealth of other places that might be more tailored to your goals. Are you only looking for remote work? Then We Work Remotely or FlexJobs will help you find openings specifically for that type of career. Idealist and Wellfound are places to find work specifically at NGOs and charities or at startups, respectively. If you’re attending or graduated from a Climb partner bootcamp, then ClimbTalent is a spot where you can access listings from companies looking to hire bootcamp grads. Look around for sites that cater to your industry or type of work to avoid digging through postings that may not fit.
Attending a Climb partner bootcamp and ready to get to the next stage in your career? Sign up for our free ClimbTalent career development platform to access job listings, resources and tools, mentorships, and more!
