The Essential Job Search Guide

Searching for a new job can be hard work, and we’re here to guide you through every step. The resources below will help you find, apply to, interview for and get the job that’s right for you.

If this guide doesn’t answer your questions, please contact our helpful support team.

• Take stock of what you’ve accomplished in your career, your personal aspirations and where you want to be next.

• Think about the skills you feel most confident in and the attributes that make you unique.

• If you don’t have much work experience, consider other roles you’ve had in your community or school, volunteer work or other experiences where you applied your skills and interests.

Everyone’s job search begins differently. Some people choose to make a career change, while others find themselves looking for a job through no choice of their own. It’s deeply personal and only you can know when searching for a job feels right.

In a recent survey, 91% of employed adults said they look for jobs at least a few times a year, so job searching is a regular activity for many people.¹ Like any activity, you’ll get better with practice. The following steps will help you hone your search skills and increase your chance of getting the job you want.

No matter how your job search begins, an important first step is considering what kind of work you’d really like to do. You may want to further your progress in the same career or change career paths completely. In any case, you’ll need to be specific about the job you seek next. This will help you decide where to focus your search and confidently answer interview questions about why you’re attracted to a particular role.

As you begin your search, you’ll want to learn about available jobs or how much you can expect to earn in different jobs or locations. Indeed provides several resources to help you do this.

Salary trends

This tool lets you see the salary trenfor specific jobs. Enter the job title you’re interested in learning more about, and you’ll see a salary range and average wages at popular companies. You can get the national trend or select individual states and cities.

Research companies

At the same time, you want to start researching companies that capture your interest. There are a lot of ways to research companies, including:

• Creating a target list of employers you’d like to work with. Visit their careers page and Indeed Company Pageto get a wealth of information like reviews, videos and current openings. From a Company Page, you can choose to “follow” that employer to get email updates when they post new jobs.

• Visiting a company’s social media pages to learn more about its day-to-day operations.

• Using a search engine to search for recent news about the company so you’re up-to-date on latest developments.

• Reaching out to people you know at the companies on your target list. In these conversations, come prepared with specific questions. For example:

How would you recommend I learn more about what jobs are available here and whether I’m a good fit?

What is your favorite thing about working here? What are the downsides?

What advancement opportunities exist at the company?

What is your relationship with your supervisor or manager like?

What is your company’s referral process? Would you be open to referring me?

Some important etiquette to remember: Never expect that a contact at a company can guarantee you a job. It’s your responsibility to learn as much as possible from them and turn that information into action. Thank them for their time. If you’re meeting them in person for coffee or lunch, you should offer to pay.

Start your search by creating a free Indeed accounWith this account, you can save jobs and apply for them when you’re ready. These saved jobs will appear on your “My Jobs” page so you can return to them when you’re ready to apply. Once you’ve applied, you’ll be able to track your status from the same page. It’s the easiest way to keep track of all the opportunities that catch your eye.

Next, set up job alertsas you explore. Alerts are regular email updates about new jobs that fit your saved interests. It’s a convenient way to see new job postings as soon as employers post them. You can create multiple alerts to be sent daily or weekly. You can also pause or delete them if you want to take a break from job searching.

Third, use advanced search techniques to narrow in on the right job. You can search for specific companies or job titles by adding “company:or “title:”to your search.

You can also use filters to refine your search. If you’re using the Indeed Job Search apenter the job you’re looking for and select “Find Jobs.” The search results will display on the following page. To add filters, select the “Filter” button. You can set your search distance, job type (full-time, part-time, contract, etc.) and experience level. Select “Update” to save your filters. You can update these settings at any time during your search.

Look out for suspicious jobs

At Indeed, we work to proactively identify and remove predatory content from search results. For your safety, review these guidelines for a safe job search. Above all, protect your personal information, never accept money for work you have not done and don’t perform any financial transactions on behalf of a potential employer.

If you find a job posting that you believe is fraudulent, contact Indeedimmediately to report the listing.

The next step in your job search is to create or update your resume to present your most relevant experiences and qualifications in an easy-to-digest format.

Indeed Resumeis a flexible resume template that lets you fill in your experiences and skills. There are 175 million resumes on Indeed today, and employers search this database for candidates with skills that match their job descriptions.²

Create and upload

You can choose to upload an existing resume or create one directly on Indeed. If you upload a resume, you’ll want to review the formatting to ensure your information is entered correctly. Indeed Resume formats your resume to share with employers on mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop devices.

Set who can see your resume

With Indeed Resume, you can set your resume to “Public,” letting employers get in touch with you about new jobs (although your name and other personal information will not be visible). You can set your resume to “Private” if you’d prefer not to be contacted by employers.

Download your resume

You won’t be prompted to apply to every job with your Indeed Resume. But because you can download it as a file, you can print it or attach it to job applications that allow attachments.

Create multiple resumes

If you’d like to create specific resumes for different jobs, we recommend you use the Indeed Resume template to tailor your experience for each job. To ensure you get maximum exposure, the resume you publish to Indeed should be an all-purpose resume rich in keywords used in job descriptions.