Applying for a job is grueling so you need to know what the best way is on how to apply for jobs.
Following our 7 step method will get you more interviews, more job offers, and make job hunting 100X easier than it already is.
Resume
Make sure your resume is up to par when you’re applying for jobs.
Make sure to detail and include the following in your resume:
- Keywords
- Quantiative Results and Accomplishments
- ATS Optimized
- Clear and Concise
- One Page
Use solid resume bullet point frameworks when crafting your resume.
Check this out: The Best Resume Format and What does ATS optimized mean?
Cover Letter
Although a cover letter is optional, you can use it to supplement your job application.
What a cover letter allows you to do is to explain anything further that you would like the employer to see prior to your interview.
It’s also a nice to have if you want to give yourself a little boost.
However, understand that employers are very busy and don’t have the time to sift and read through cover letters.
At most, they’re going to hold your cover letter for a few minutes and take a look at your resume.
In reality, hiring managers are not going to spend that much time on your resume or cover letter because they’re busy and have other things to do besides hiring.
Check this out: How To Write A Cover Letter (Engineering)
LinkedIn Optimization
Along with a good resume and cover letter, you should be supplementing your job search with an optimized LinkedIn profile
An optimize LinkedIn profile:
- Gets recruiters to notice your profile more and has them reach out to you for job opportunities
- Showcases your work, skills, and accomplishments to anyone who many be interested in your career development
- Allows you to connect and interface with a huge network of employees
If you don’t have a LinkedIn, you need to get one ASAP.
This allows you to increase the size of your job searching pipeline and gets your more interviews and job offers.
With an optimized LinkedIn Profile, recruiters will DM you left and right for high paying jobs.
If you don’t see a recruiter reaching out to you for a job, then you’re doing something wrong with your LinkedIn profile.
Some quick ways to optimize your LinkedIn are:
- Connect with as many people as possible – friends, family, and colleagues
- Include all of your skillsets such as hard technical skills
- Have a professional photo of yourself as your profile picture
- Use a very aesthetic background image to keep the entire profile looking “professional”
- Add keywords in your headline that consist of either your job or skillset “Engineering | CAD | MATLAB”
- Have an about section that summaries your background
Check this out: 8 Tips to Optimize LinkedIn Profile For Recruiters
Apply on websites such as Indeed
Use job search websites such as Indeed or LinkedIn and apply to as many jobs that you’re remotely qualified for.
You don’t need to be qualified for every single job opening.
Just apply to the ones where you contain a skillset or two.
It doesn’t even hurt to apply for jobs where you have no relevant skills at all.
The worst an employer can do is say no to you, and because of that, you have nothing to lose in your job search.
The quick apply function on both Indeed and LinkedIn makes it easy to apply to a large volume of jobs.
This should not be your only form of job hunting though, as there are many other avenues you need to explore.
Check this out: 7 Tips On How to Keep Track of Job Applications and How to find a job on indeed
Look up the Careers section for the companies you want to work at
Write down a list of all of the companies you want to work at and keep track in a spreadsheet.
Then, go to the career website on each company that you want to work for and apply to all of the jobs that you’re interested in.
Make sure to keep track of which jobs you’re applying to, which resume you sent, and the link of the job description as this will be helpful down the line when you prepare for interviews or want to keep track of metrics.
Having a job tracking spreadsheet makes it easy to track which positions you applied to so you don’t end up double applying or losing track of what you did.
You should be looking at the career section for companies while simultaneously using resources such as Indeed or LinkedIn for your job search.
Reach out to your network
Reach out to your family, friends, colleagues, alumni, mentors, professors, and everyone that you can think of.
Job searching is very exhausting and you will need to leverage your entire network as much as possible.
People still get jobs based on networking, even in 2023 and onwards.
All it takes is knowing a few people, and that can be enough to get your foot in the door, and advance your career to the next level.
Even having hobbies such as sports, going to the gym, climbing, surfing, martial arts give you the exposure to many different people in many career settings.
This is why you need to have the strongest network that you possibly can.
Check this out: How to Network for Jobs (The 7 Ways)
Set specific metrics
When you’re figuring out the best way on how to apply for jobs, you need to set specific metrics.
Metrics such as how many job applications submitted, how many interview requests received are all valuable data to have.
With this type of data, you will know how you’re doing and you’ll know whether what you’re doing is working or not.
You can then adjust your resume as needed to increase the number of interviews and offers you get.
Make sure you track your job hunting with a spreadsheet.
You don’t need to be very fancy with the formatting, but just track the company, the link of the job, and what resume you used to apply.
There are cases when people use different resumes for different jobs (as different resumes will be more tailored to different job openings), and as a result, they lose track of which resume they applied for a certain role.
Check this out: Companies LOVE When You Know How To Say You Save Money On Resume!
ULTMECHE Career Services
About the author
Kazuyoshi Fujimoto, PE
Founder | Engineering Career Coach | Principal Mechanical Engineer
Kazu oversees all of ultmeche’s engineering services. He provides consulting such as resume reviews, rewrites, mock interviews, and all services career related. Additionally, Kazu performs consulting work regarding Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense. Kazu is licensed as a professional engineer in the state of California and has 9+ years of experience in Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense.
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