Career Advice

3 Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search

posted on June 27, 2013 | by Amanda Holstein

Today’s post is written by contributor Megan Broussard, the creator of the career-lifestyle site ProfessionGal, based in NYC. If you’re a young female professional or entrepreneur with a craving to get ahead and a sweet spot for office style, Megan’s site is for you. Enjoy her career advice below! And be sure to connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+.

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You know the drill: girl needs job, girl updates resume and girl spends countless nights pulling her hair out wondering why she’s not getting a call back. It’s time to amp up your efforts, gals. Here’s how to kick your job search into high gear, so that you can finally get that beauty sleep back (oh yeah, and a job of your dreams).

Tell everyone.

Literally, tell everyone. Never mind that you may sound like a broken record or like that girl who won’t stop talking about the place she just moved from. The point? I bet you can tell me the name of the city she won’t stop talking about. It’s all about repetition, much like the way advertising works. It’s said that a message should be repeated three times before a person can remember it. The same goes for your job search. And, you want people to remember that you’re in the job market so that when they hear of an opening, they’ll automatically think of you.

The key to this step too is that you should be telling people about your job search even if they don’t seem to be obviously relevant to the type of job you’re looking for or in the city in which you’re looking to find a job. I can’t tell you how many times girls tell me that they were shocked to find out my advice was true.

For example, you might think that emailing your old BSAT professor would be a waste of time if you’re trying to break into the fashion scene. Think again: they may have close friends, family members or past colleagues who are influential in that industry. Don’t believe me? Think about how different your own group of friends is. In my close circle, for example, we’ve got a graphic designer, a CPA, a teacher and a PR girl, so our networks are very diverse. Between the four of us, we could get you the inside scoop on an array of jobs.

Be specific.

When spreading the word about your job search, spill the details. Don’t just tell your Facebook friends and boyfriend’s parents that you’re looking for a new job. Tell them that you’re looking for an entry-level marketing position in healthcare in St. Louis, for example.

Being as specific as possible is more helpful to you because it will register faster with your network contacts, making it more likely that they’ll actually relay it to you. You probably hear about job openings all the time and forget to mention it to your job-hunting friends. But, you’d probably remember to pass along a job posting that rang a bell because you had heard those keywords just the other day: an account executive PR position at a firm in Dallas? Why yes, you know someone who would be interested…

Always be on the job hunt.

If you have a current job that you know is a dead end in your career, the worst thing you can do is wait until you’re burnt out or sick of your job to start your job search. That’s because looking for a new job is a full-time job in itself. And, how much energy do you think you’ll have left to hunt for a new job when most of your energy is spent mulling over the hatred you have for your current job?

That’s why you should always be on the lookout for opportunities and not wait until you’re hanging on by a string. This will give you more job options, a higher chance of finding the job you truly want and making it less likely that you’ll jump ship out of desperation only to find yourself back in the same miserable boat once again.

There you have it, gals. Sprinkle these enhancements to your job hunt, and you’ll be boosting your chances of seeing results exponentially. Give it a shot; it certainly won’t hurt. What will hurt is another sleepless night spent tailoring your resume with zero interviews to show for it.

What are some of your tips for a successful job search?

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