How to Find a New Job Fast

Whether you are unemployed, or just looking to make a career change, job hunting can be pretty difficult, especially in today’s market. At the same time, it seems like there is an abundance of information out there on the Internet, with places galore to find a new job. This isn’t always the case. Here are some great ways to fly through your job hunt, and get the job you’ve been looking for, asap.

1. Have a resume and cover letter ready. Before you do any searching, get that resume and cover letter prepared to send out immediately. Of course, you will need to tweak them both a bit for each position, but have at least a basic template prepared. Make sure that you’ve proof read them both numerous times.

2. As you submit your cover letters and resumes, save any new versions to help you in the future. Say, for example you are a non-profit event planning professional, but are interested in doing regular corporate meeting planning. Once you submit your new cover letter and resume, save that version in a few folder on your computer called something like “Corporate Meeting” so you can go back to it later. This will absolutely save you time. In fact, if you save all of your cover letters and resumes that you submit, you may find after a time, that the only things you are tweaking is the company name, address, and contact person on the cover letter. You could ultimately end up with a library of your resumes and cover letters.

3. Use indeed.com to find jobs. To start the hunt, indeed.com, compiles most of the major online job boards into its search database, and makes it pretty easy to find out if there are jobs you are interested in, in your area. When you visit the site, it requires you to put in some search keywords related to the jobs you are interested in, say “event, planner, weddings” as well as a location, either a zip code or a city. Once you click the “Find Jobs” button, you can narrow your search results by how close they are to your location, and sort them by the date they were posted. One thing that’s important to pay attention to, given my example above, the person who types in “Event, planner, weddings” its only going to get jobs that have those three exact words in it. It would definitely be wise in that case to create multiple searches that have other similar words like “events,” “planning,” and “weddings.” Doing so will allow the user to see all of their job options. Once you have created these searches, you can save them, and view them every day, as well as have them sent directly to your email. This saves a huge amount of time, as you don’t have to visit the site and recreate your searches every single day. Make sure that you sign up for an account on this site to be able to save your searches. Pay attention to the jobs that come up in each search result. You may find that over time, the results really are not giving you what you are looking for, and you can tweak and eliminate these searches.

4. Only apply to jobs you are qualified to do. If the job requires a minimum of “eight years work experience” and you can only give them three years, don’t even waste your time, especially if you find the job through some place like indeed.com. There are many, many candidates applying for these positions, and in the current job market we are facing, there are many people who probably have 12 years of job experience applying to that same position you are. Only apply to jobs that you fit almost perfectly. Also, only apply for jobs that you are passionate about. If the job doesn’t really interest you, or fit your qualifications, eliminate it from your list and move on. You’ll only be wasting your time creating a cover letter.

5. Contact the companies you want to work for directly. So many people are afraid to do this, but this can be an excellent way to get work. Create a list of the companies in the industry you want to work for. Once you do that, visit their website, and learn about the organization a bit. See if they have a company job board, and if there are any positions that interest you. If there are, apply directly. Less people take the time to go directly to company websites and apply for positions, so you already have a better chance of getting a position with them. Additionally, whether or not they had a job board, give them a call, and ask to speak with the person in the department you are interested in working in. What’s the worst that could happen? I promise that a hole will not open up in the floor that you’ll fall into. Just introduce yourself to this person, and tell them you are looking for a job. You never know what might happen.

6. Contact a headhunter. For nearly any industry, there are headhunters trying to find potential job candidates. Try looking up some headhunters that focus on your industry, and see if they can help you. It never hurts to have someone else looking for jobs for you, and you don’t have to pay a dime if they do find something for you. Your future employer pays them.

If you follow all of these suggestions, you should be able to find a new job in less time than it would normally take you. Of course, being unemployed these days is definitely stressful, so in doing this process, it’s still important to find time for yourself. Make sure that you give yourself time to go exercise, get a manicure or watch a movie. Doing so will keep you refreshed and uplifted for anything that comes your way during your search. Remember to be proactive with the hunt every day. Persistence is key. Good luck!