Job Searching While Employed
Yup, I went there.
The idea of searching for a job while employed makes some people shake in their boots. But you might be shaking a little harder if you didn't have a job or any source of income while under the stress of finding your next gig.
Chances are you or someone you know has been in the position of looking for a new job while employed (or one of you has another tab open right now with job openings). I've been there. It blows.
Here are a few tips that I adopted when looking for a job -- At least one will help you!
Network, network, network: I was going to start these tips with something about applying online, but in my humble opinion, and all honesty, this is the most important. Network your ass off. At restaurants, coffee shops, in line at the post office, and at a bar. Talk to anyone and everyone. Be yourself and friendly, but simply sparking a conversation with a stranger in your path can open so many doors. You never know when you'll meet someone in a field you're interested, or their friends' friend's cousin can help you.
Have your resume on deck: Before you start your job search, clean up your resume. If you're in your 20s, try to condense it to one page even if you have great experience. Tailor your resume to the position(s) you're going after. Nobody needs to know that you know how to work a cash register (I had this on my resume for over a year). Keep your bullet points specific, unique, and relevant to your search. I highly recommend designing your resume in Google Docs if you haven't tried it. It gives you much more creative freedom. I googled a ton of resume templates and then just copied one. Best of all, it's free.
Set time aside: You can't be scrolling through job boards all day at work. Give yourself at least an hour each day that works with your schedule: mornings, around lunch, or after work to search through job openings, send emails, etc.
Subscribe to job notification emails: This does half the work for you. Subscribe to alerts for the field/type of job you're interested in, and a list will be delivered to your inbox every morning. You can scroll through and see if anything stands out to you, flag it, and look into it further later. If not, delete the email and keep workin'.
Don't waste any body's time: Your own and your potential employer. You don't really have time to waste if you're trying to juggle a job search with a full-time job, so refine your search. Only apply to jobs that you truly feel would be a good fit or up your alley. Believe me, I know desperation will make you feel like you need to send your resume to any company who's hiring, but don't do that. You can if you really just need to jump ship, but I recommend keeping your applications to those who really speak to you.
Don't be blatant about your search: When you start getting some call backs, you'll need to schedule in-person interviews. Again, don't waste any body's time. If you have a job, ask as many questions as appropriate to the interviewer before you go in-person. Often times something will rule itself out before you even step foot into an office. If you do schedule in-person interviews, try to take a personal day off to check everything off in one day. If you can't, use your lunch hour wisely.
Hope at least one of these tips helps any of you on the hunt! Hang in there...I promise you'll end up where you need to be! Stay persistent yet patient.
If you've been in these shoes, what was the one thing that helped you? Share!
Let me know if you'd like me to go further into designing/creating a resume -- I'd be happy to.
xx
Cori
The idea of searching for a job while employed makes some people shake in their boots. But you might be shaking a little harder if you didn't have a job or any source of income while under the stress of finding your next gig.
Here are a few tips that I adopted when looking for a job -- At least one will help you!
Have your resume on deck: Before you start your job search, clean up your resume. If you're in your 20s, try to condense it to one page even if you have great experience. Tailor your resume to the position(s) you're going after. Nobody needs to know that you know how to work a cash register (I had this on my resume for over a year). Keep your bullet points specific, unique, and relevant to your search. I highly recommend designing your resume in Google Docs if you haven't tried it. It gives you much more creative freedom. I googled a ton of resume templates and then just copied one. Best of all, it's free.
Set time aside: You can't be scrolling through job boards all day at work. Give yourself at least an hour each day that works with your schedule: mornings, around lunch, or after work to search through job openings, send emails, etc.
Subscribe to job notification emails: This does half the work for you. Subscribe to alerts for the field/type of job you're interested in, and a list will be delivered to your inbox every morning. You can scroll through and see if anything stands out to you, flag it, and look into it further later. If not, delete the email and keep workin'.
Don't waste any body's time: Your own and your potential employer. You don't really have time to waste if you're trying to juggle a job search with a full-time job, so refine your search. Only apply to jobs that you truly feel would be a good fit or up your alley. Believe me, I know desperation will make you feel like you need to send your resume to any company who's hiring, but don't do that. You can if you really just need to jump ship, but I recommend keeping your applications to those who really speak to you.
Don't be blatant about your search: When you start getting some call backs, you'll need to schedule in-person interviews. Again, don't waste any body's time. If you have a job, ask as many questions as appropriate to the interviewer before you go in-person. Often times something will rule itself out before you even step foot into an office. If you do schedule in-person interviews, try to take a personal day off to check everything off in one day. If you can't, use your lunch hour wisely.
Hope at least one of these tips helps any of you on the hunt! Hang in there...I promise you'll end up where you need to be! Stay persistent yet patient.
If you've been in these shoes, what was the one thing that helped you? Share!
Let me know if you'd like me to go further into designing/creating a resume -- I'd be happy to.
xx
Cori