As a longtime career coach, I have seen many students (and friends and family members) become overwhelmed and intimidated while approaching the internship and job search process. Sorting through thousands of postings with confusing titles, over-the-top qualifications, and vague job descriptions is enough to make anyone want to burn their resume! Luckily, there are many ways to attack the job and internship search like a pro and make the process work for you.
Here are my top five tips for launching a strategic job or internship search:
#1. Create a routine.
Searching for a job or internship takes time, dedication, and consistent effort. Creating a routine and setting aside dedicated time for your job search helps to make the search process manageable. Block short, repeating chunks of time in your schedule for job searching and add them to your calendar just like you would classes, meetings, or workouts. Create a list of job boards that you want to check regularly and use that time to check postings, update your application materials, and submit applications. The key is to stick to your schedule and not allow distractions during your job search time.
#2. Know the hotspots for job searching.
Do some research on the best places to search for jobs and internships in your area(s) of interest. Handshake is a great place for anyone to start and has internships and entry level jobs posted for students in every industry! LinkedIn is another fantastic option, and you might also have luck with Indeed, USAJobs (government), Idealist, industry specific job boards, and individual company websites.
#3. Learn what you’re looking for and how to use filters.
Searching for jobs and internships is a skill, and the more often you do it the better you’ll get at recognizing which opportunities you’re interested in applying for. When you first start searching, pay attention to the language used in the postings to get an idea of the types of roles you want to search for and the keywords to use when searching. Make a list of these search terms and test out different combinations to see what returns jobs most tailored to your skillset. Additionally, take the time to understand the search filter settings. Use filters for location, experience level, industry, and more to weed out postings that you might not be qualified for or interested in.
#4. Set up job board alerts.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to automate your job and internship search is to set up job board alerts. Much like the filters addressed in tip #3, you can use job alerts to set preferences for job titles, industries, locations, paid positions, job types, and experiences levels. Once you have created an alert, you will be notified (usually via email) anytime a job with the criteria you specified has been posted on the job board. This job search hack will save you from spending hours scouring job postings and will remind you to stay active in your search.
#5. Stay organized.
One you’ve used strategies 1-4, you’ll be in on a job search train you can’t slow down! To make sure you don’t miss application deadlines or forget to follow up on positions you’ve applied for, it is important to stay organized. A great organization strategy is to create a simple job search tracker in an Excel spreadsheet. Keep track of things like job title, a link to the posting, application deadlines, dates you submitted applications or followed up, and next steps. I also recommend keeping links to resumes and cover letters that you have customized for each position so that you can quickly refer to them or make updates to use for other applications.
Now that you’re equipped with these simple strategies, it’s time to get your search on!
