Finding Opportunities
Here's a list of things you can do to increase the quantity and quality of employment opportunities that you can act on. Make the following process systematic, and it will take out most of the anxiety and stress.
- Research the types of job sources available to you.
- Determine which ones are available in your geographical area.
It may be that you're willing to apply to jobs that aren't in your geographical area, but your source should at least be somewhere close by.
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Make a list and rank all possible search methods and their contact
methods.
For example, if you live far from downtown, have no access to a vehicle but have a home Internet connection, you might rank "the Internet" as your number one job search method. If you live downtown or have access to a vehicle, you might rank "direct application to employer" as your number one search method. If you're still in post-secondary school, you might rank "career placement office" as the number one method because of the many services you can access in between your classes.
- Be economical but thorough about the actions you take with any particular
method;
For example, if you want to apply to a heap of companies directly, assemble as many application forms as you can first, then fill out all the forms and prepare cover letters outside of their business hours, and then submit them over the next business day. Bring home duplicate forms in case you make errors, and organize your application forms by application deadline. While the temptation may be great, avoid handing out a resume without a covering letter.
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Visit your job sources regularly.
Postings are refreshed at different rates, depending on the source. Owing to its sheer size, the Internet holds the largest and most stable supply of fresh postings than any other source, provided you don't restrict yourself to one career site/newsgroup.
It's important to visit more than one online job board as they each have different employer patrons. Figure out which ones best suit your needs, location, and industry. Pick sites that you feel comfortable using to increase the chance you'll use them frequently. Try to pick two or three to check daily.