Typical Job Interview Questions Employers Ask

Are you getting ready for a job interview? Whether you’re interviewing in-person or have a Zoom interview scheduled, it’s always a good idea to review the types of interview questions you will be asked. Answer the questions yourself ahead of time, so you know what you are going to say when you respond. 

Make a list of questions and your answers so you can review them prior to interviewing. It will preclude you from fumbling around for words during the interview and feeling like you’re on the spot.

Tip: Having an idea of what you’ll be asked will make the interview seem much less scary.

Top Interview Questions Employers Ask

Here are some common interview questions that you might be asked: 

• Tell me about yourself.
• What were your job responsibilities?
• Describe a typical day at your job. 
• What were your expectations for the job, and to what extent were they met?
• How much did you earn? 
• Which was most/least rewarding? 
• What was the biggest accomplishment in this job? 
• What could you have done better? 
• Why are you leaving/did you leave your job? 

Questions About Work

After you have been asked about yourself, the next set of questions will typically be about how you do your job and how you deal with situations that arise during work, such as the following: 

• Tell me about the challenges and problems you dealt with. How did you handle them?
• How do you handle stress? 
• Describe a difficult work project and how you overcame the problems. 
• Do you prefer working on a team or independently? 
• How do you measure success? 

Questions About Your Experience

You will also be asked specific questions about your experience and credentials. Next, you will be asked about the job you are applying for and why you are qualified for it: 

• Why are you interested in this job? 
• What experience do you have?
• Why are you the best person for the job?
• Explain to me why you want the job. 

Questions About the Company

• What do you know about this company and the job? 
• Why do you want to work for this company?
• If you could describe your ideal position, what would it be? 
• Can I answer any questions about the job or company for you? 
• When could you start if we offered you the job? 

You will also be asked questions about your skills and how they relate to the job. 

Questions About Your Goals

Finally, you will need to be able to discuss your goals for the future and where you expect your career to be in a few years or even longer: 

• What are your goals for the future? 
• How do you plan to achieve those goals? 
• How does this company fit with your plans for the future? 
• What are your salary requirements? 

What Not to Do When You Respond

Be careful how you answer every question, and make sure your response is reasonable and appropriate. I once asked someone about his last position, and he carefully took the time to explain to me that he hadn’t worked in a while because of an injury he sustained in a boating accident. He then (literally) started unbuttoning his shirt to show me the injury. That was much more than I needed to know! 

Another job applicant told me she needed a minute to think of an answer, and then asked if she could borrow my phone to call a cab for the ride home. A third candidate, who was applying for a sales job, said that she hated prospecting and making cold calls. Obviously, she didn’t get the job either. 

In all these cases, if the candidates had taken even a little time to prepare, they would have done much better in the interview process.

Tip: Here’s what not to do during a job interview when you want to make the best impression.

Questions to Ask in an Interview

Also prepare questions to ask the interviewer. Create a list of things you want to know about the job and the company. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask questions. In fact, the employer will expect you to have questions to ask and will think less of you if you don’t ask anything. 

Ask about the job responsibilities, travel requirements, overtime, the company’s management style, growth and advancement prospects, and when you might expect to start if you were hired. If there is anything you’re not sure about or need more information on, now is the time to ask it. It’s much better to ask all your questions when you have the opportunity than it is to have lingering concerns after you have left the interview. 

What Interviewers Shouldn’t Ask You

There are also questions the employer should not ask you, including questions about your age, citizenship, disability, gender, national origin, race, and marital or family status. The questions the interviewer asks you should be related to the job and your ability to do it.

How to Handle Inappropriate Interview Questions

If you have been asked questions that aren’t appropriate, you can choose not to answer the question, answer the question anyway or provide a partial response, or you can try to change the subject and avoid the question. 

None of these is a perfect solution, especially when the question shouldn’t have been asked in the first place, but you need to consider which response makes the best strategic sense and how much you want the job.

There are a variety of options available, including legal recourse, if you feel you have been discriminated against. The U.S. Equal Employment Commission handles claims from workers who have been discriminated against by an employer, labor union, or employment agency either during the hiring process or on the job. 

More Interview Questions and Answers: 100+ Common Interview Questions and the Best Answers

 

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How to Successfully Start a New Career

Are you ready for a new career? Are you thinking about pivoting your career and making a change to a new line of work? There’s a difference between changing jobs and changing careers. Changing jobs is typically defined as moving to a similar position at a different employer. Changing careers is more involved and usually means moving to a completely different type of position or a different industry. 

Changing Jobs vs. Changing Careers

A career change may mean retraining, additional education, and even starting over at a low-level position and beginning a new career path from scratch. It’s not always easy, which is why I am sometimes surprised by the number of people who successfully change careers, often later in life. It isn’t always easy to do and sometimes takes a leap of faith and a good amount of bravery. 

It’s very easy to get set in your ways and to think that because you always had this job or worked in that industry, you can’t do anything else. That’s not true. 

Tip: We can all make a change if we want to. The timing needs to be right, and the foundation for making a move needs to be set, but it can be done. The hardest part is convincing yourself that you’re ready to do it. 

In some cases, we’re not even aware we need a change. We’re bored or tired or simply don’t feel like going to work. We use every excuse we can think of to take time off, and cringe at the thought of going back to work. Even worse, we simply don’t like our job and would rather be anywhere else than at the office. That can happen to anyone. 

Signs That it’s Time for a New Career

When it does, these warning signs should be an indicator that it’s time for a change. If you can describe yourself in the following ways, it’s a sign that it’s time for a new career: 

• Burned out 
• Tired 
• Not interested in the job 
• Will take any excuse for not going to work 
• Unable to focus on tasks 
• Unproductive 
• Performing poorly 
• Stressed 

If some of these symptoms describe you, keep in mind, your boss has probably noticed, too. You may want to start thinking about finding a new job before your boss thinks of it. 

Tip: It’s easier to job search when you have a job than when you just got fired. It’s also easier to explain that you want to advance your career than it is to explain you lost your job because of poor performance. 

Start With a Small Step

That leap I mentioned earlier, by the way, doesn’t have to be a big one. Sometimes it makes sense to start with baby steps. Keep your full-time job, for example, and gain some experience volunteering in the career field you would like to move to. 

Or start out by working part-time at a new job until you’re ready to commit to a change. Taking steps in an alternative or new direction can also help you tolerate a job that you probably shouldn’t be working in anymore. 

Expand Your Skills

When you have other things to focus on, your situation at work may not seem so tedious or difficult. Other options include taking a college course or two to gain some new skills or to update your skills that are a little out-of-date. 

Seminars and short programs (often offered online or as adult learning programs by local school districts) are a good way to brush up your skills or to get started learning something new. If your computer skills need an upgrade, there are free and easy ways to improve them.

Tip: Review these tips for how to upskill your career to get started.

Can You Switch Roles?

Consider different roles within your current industry. Many companies hire internally before they hire publicly. If you are qualified for a different job at your company, apply for it. Discuss alternatives with your human resources department. 

Most companies want to keep good employees and will do their best to find another position for them, or may even be willing to carve out a different niche or a new role for workers they want to keep. 

Consider Taking a Career Risk

The one common factor most career changers have is a willingness to take a risk. Another factor is the ability to not consider their salary as critically important. They are able to look beyond present circumstances to the future potential of a new job.

That isn’t always easy, but it can be done. An unemployment check, a temporary job, or a side gig, can be used to supplement income. College tuition assistance or student loans can be obtained. 

Government funding may be available for retraining or learning new skills. If you really, really want to make a change, you’ll find a way. It may not be as quick or as easy as you would like, but it can happen. 

10 Steps to a New Career

The following is a list of the steps you will need to take to start a new career:

1. Decide that you need a change. 
2. Itemize your career interests and values. 
3. Consider career options. 
4. Create a short-list of possible career alternatives. 
5. Research the career options on your list. 
6. Develop the skills you need to make a change. 
7. Incorporate those skills into your resume. 
8. Set short-term and long-term career goals. 
9. Start a job search. 
10. Get hired for a new job.

Discovering Your Perfect New Career 

The new job or career that’s perfect for you may not be the job that’s perfect for someone else. Everyone has expectations of what a job should be like. We all want different things out of life and work. 

Consider Allen, who spent a good part of his working life driving a bus on a college campus. It wasn’t because he didn’t have other qualifications. He took the job deliberately because it gave him time to think and to write poetry. 

What he wanted most out of life was to be a poet. He didn’t expect to make a living writing poetry; unfortunately, those people are few and far between. However, this job gave him plenty of time to write the poetry he wanted to—in his head while driving, and on paper when he wasn’t working. 

Another example comes to mind. Janine, overqualified by most standards, is happy to work at a part-time job in a local doctor’s office. Why doesn’t she want more out of her job? She’s an aspiring actress, and that low-key day job gives her time to audition and time to rehearse. It also pays the bills, which would be tough to do on the uncertain income she makes acting. 

Then there’s Mark. He was one of the best employees who ever worked for me. He couldn’t read or write. Mark brought his wife with him to fill out his job application. He was dedicated, and he never missed a day of work. 

He was innovative and came up with lots of ideas that saved the company money. Mark dressed like a college professor topped off with a jaunty Irish Tweed cap, but he was our office cleaning person. Hiring Mark was one of the best hiring decisions I ever made, even though on paper he didn’t have many qualifications. 

Mark’s story reminds me of the wise words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, 

“If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

It’s important to consider those words and to consider your own perfect career—not what you think your perfect career should be or what the career expectations of your family, friends, and society are. After all, it is your career, and that’s what is most important. 

That’s fine, as long as you get started. Even if you aren’t able to start work at your perfect job today, you will be able to find jobs that will help you move in the right direction and navigate a new career path. If you play your cards right, you will also be able to achieve what you want out of work and out of life. 

Explore Career Options

The most important steps to finding your perfect job are, first of all, to decide what it is you want to do by exploring career and job options. Next on the list is to research and narrow down the alternatives. What sounds good at first glance might not really be as good as it sounds. 

Carefully consider what’s involved in the day-to-day activities you will be doing and decide whether you are sure you are interested in doing them.

Tip: Almost everyone has transferable skills and computer skills that will ease the transition to a new career path.

Decide What You Want to Do

Once you have a good sense of the type of job that interests you, the next step is to consider how you want to work. 

• Do you want to work full-time or part-time? 
• Are you interested in freelancing or would you prefer to be an employee? 
• Do you want a professional career, or would you rather work at an hourly position? 
• How about pay? How important is it to you, and how much do you need to earn to pay your bills?  
• Flexibility and benefits are important, too.

Needless to say, job searching isn’t always a simple endeavor. If it was, we could all go online and post our resume, get an interview, and get the job. The problem with that, though, is that if we’re not applying for jobs we are qualified for and if our resume doesn’t even come close to matching the job requirements, we’re not going to get called for an interview. 

Employers can afford to be selective. There are more people searching than ever before, so in order to be competitive you need to be focused, targeted, and prepared. 

The most important thing to remember when choosing job and career options is to follow your dreams so you are seeking employment that will mesh with who you are and where you want to go. Once you have accomplished that, the rest of your job search will fall into place.

Ready to Get Started? Here’s a step-by-step guide to get your dream job.

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Free Career and Job Search Tools

Having the right tools can make your job search run a whole lot smoother. Saving even a little time on some of the steps in the job search process can give you more time to spend on hunting down good jobs leads.

It’s the same scenario when you’re building, managing or changing your career. Saving time and money frees you up to focus on your attaining your goals and objectives.

Here is a selection of free career and job search tools that will help you explore career options, job search more efficiently, find job listings fast, write and proofread your resume and cover letters, manage your career, and get paid what you’re worth.

The basic version of all the products, services, and tools is free. There is a charge to upgrade in some cases, but you don’t need to invest in the premium features unless you want do more than is provided at no charge.

Free Career and Job Search Tools

Free Career Tool Belt Job Application Tracker
Download our free job application tracker template and accompanying tutorial.

Free Insider’s Guide on Where to Apply for Jobs 
Download our free e-book to get your job search started.

CareerThesaurus.com
Take the quick, easy and free Career Test to get an idea about jobs that would be a good fit for you. When you’re done, you’ll be able to view job listings that match the position.

Grammarly Free and Quick Proofreading
When you’re applying for jobs, it’s important to send out cover letters and resumes that are perfect. With Grammarly, you can do that quickly and easily online. Grammarly instantly checks your writing for grammar, punctuation, style and more.

Indeed.com Job Listings
Search for jobs on the world’s #1 job site and post your resume on Indeed to make it easy for employers to find you. Indeed.com users and save time by searching many sources of job listings with just a click or two.

JibberJobber Career Management
Your job hunt will be much smoother if it’s organized. JibberJobber provides a quick and easy way to organize and manage your career contacts and job search.

My Skills My Future
Are you interested in changing jobs? Use this free tool to get a list of options. Enter a job you’ve had, and get a list of occupations that require similar skills.

Resume and Cover Letter Examples
Spending some time looking at examples can help you write interview winning resumes and letters. Review these free examples of resumes and letters for many different occupations.

Skills List for Resumes
Lists of skills for resumes, cover letters, and job applications. You’ll find the most in-demand skills that employers want listed by type of skill and type of job.

Sokanu Free Career Test
Explore hundreds of career options and discover your matches and personality traits with Sokanu’s free career test.

Word Processing Software (Download)
If you’re more comfortable working on your laptop than online, consider one of these free word processors that you can download to your personal computer.

Word Processing Software (Online)
Here are 7 free word processors that are quick and simple to use online. You can work from your web browser and won’t need to download anything to your computer.

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How Transferable Skills Can Help Your Career

Whether you are seeking a new job or looking for a career change, the skills you have learned in one position can be used in another. It could be a similar job, or it could be something completely different. If the skills are generic enough (not company specific), they can be transported between roles, between companies, and even between industries.

What Are Transferable Skills?

The skills that can be transferred across industries and types of positions are called transferable skills. They are practical capabilities such as problem-solving and critical thinking that are necessary in many different lines of work.

How to Get Transferable Skills

The skills you learn in other ways, outside of the workplace, by volunteering, for example, can also be used to help qualify you for jobs that you might not have considered. These skills can be acquired over time or through higher education and experience, but what sets them apart is that they are adaptable and can be used in many various settings.

Transferable skills can be developed through military service, classwork, extracurricular activities like sports or clubs, internships, former jobs, travel, and study abroad experience, etc. Many skills can be established through non-conventional work or educational environments, so no experience is too distant. 

Tip: You may be surprised at the computer skills you already have that can help you get hired.

Examples of Transferable Skills

Transferable skills can be used in a variety of ways. Take Peggy, for example. She spent years working as an administrator for a large insurance company. During the same period, she volunteered on a regular basis for a local animal rescue group. When a job coordinating volunteers became available at a nearby animal shelter, she was able to use the skills she had acquired volunteering to help her get the job. 

In a similar case, another career changer spent a few hours a week volunteering for hospice. She did have a degree in social work but hadn’t used it because she was a stay-at-home mom raising a family. When she was ready to go back to work, a job opened up at hospice, and she was the first person interviewed. She was hired on the spot.

 List of Transferable Skills

Here’s a list of transferable skills you can use to boost your job search.

• Adaptability
• Analysis
• Analytics
• Attention to detail
• Communication
• Computer skills
• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Customer service
• Data analysis
• Decision making
• Evaluating
• Flexibility
• Helpfulness
• Goal setting
• Interpersonal skills
• Language skills
• Listening
• Leadership
• Management
• Meeting deadlines
• Motivation
• Multitasking
• Organization
• Planning
• Persuasion
• Problem solving
• Productivity
• Project management
• Research and planning
• Relationship building
• Selling
• Strategy
• Teamwork
• Technical skills
• Time Management
• Vision
• Writing

Assess Your Transferable Skills

 To assess your transferable skills, spend some time looking at what you have done. Make a list of the jobs you have had, the volunteering you have done, and the clubs and organizations you belong to. Have you helped out at school or church? How about summer jobs and activities?

If you worked at a retail store, you have customer service experience. Did you manage your household budget as a stay-at-home parent? You have finance and budgeting skills. Did you study abroad in France? You may speak more than one language and you are able to communicate cross-culturally.

Then consider what you have done in each of those roles. Many of these skills may be able to be used effectively in the workplace.

Showcase Your Skills

Everything you have accomplished, work related or not, has provided you with skills you can use in a new job or career. These can be incorporated into your resume and your cover letters as well. Just because you weren’t paid for what you did doesn’t mean it doesn’t qualify as work.

Tip: Here’s how to highlight your transferable skills in your cover letter and how to add a skills section to your resume.

It is important to be able to demonstrate and explain how you will be able to apply your skills to a new work environment, so be prepared to share examples with prospective employers. One of the best ways to do that is to share a story when you respond to interview questions.

Growing Your Skillset

As your career progresses, you will be able to grow your list of transferable skills. All your daily activities have the potential to give you a new skill or ability you will be able to use in the future. It’s important not to minimize what you have learned along the way. 

Timothy, for example, told me that he didn’t have any skills. He’d worked in construction for years. However, he had spent a lot of spare time skiing and was able to use the knowledge he had acquired to get certified as a ski instructor. That certification led to a seasonal position at a ski resort and eventually led to a permanent career change. 

We all have transferable skills, whether we think so or not. It’s simply a question of figuring out what they are, then using them to define what it is we want to do with the skills we have.

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Top 5 Best Job Search Sites

Are you ready to start a job search, or a you in the middle of a job hunt and not getting anywhere fast? If you’re searching for jobs online right now, your biggest problem might be where to start. LinkedIn, Indeed, niche job search sites, employer websites – there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of apps and sites and angles to try.

The problem, of course, is that you only have so much time and energy to spend on your job hunt, even if you’re devoting full-time working hours to the search. It’s easy to squander your valuable job search time on the wrong channels – or too many of the right ones.

Tip: You don’t need to use every job search resources that’s available. A back-to-basics streamlined job search can be more effective than spending countless hours trying everything you can to get hired.

To make the best use of your resources, you need to know what each job search tool does best. Then you can focus your efforts on the channels that make the most sense for your specific needs.

Best Sites for Job Searching

Here are some of the best sites to get your job search on the fast track.

LinkedIn

Best for: When you have a connection or want to link up with a recruiter.

LinkedIn boasts over 700 million users, but if you’re looking for work, you’re probably more interested in the fact that the professional social network also offers more than 20 million open jobs.

When should you use LinkedIn to find these jobs? When you have a contact that can connect you with someone inside an employer that’s hiring. To do that, click on the Jobs tab at the top of each page, then search for jobs by title, skill, or company, plus location. When you click into each listing, you’ll be able to see if you have any connections at the company.

Tip: Don’t have an inside track? Click the company name to get to their page, then click People. You may have a connection who can introduce you to someone at the organization.

Indeed

Best for: When you need a job fast.

Indeed not only aggregates job listings from all over the web, including employer sites, but it also allows you to sign up for email job alerts based on your search criteria. You can choose to receive these alerts daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on how actively you’re searching. Employers who need help ASAP are labeled “Urgently hiring.”

Glassdoor

Best for: When you want the inside scoop on company culture and employee benefits.

Have you ever experienced buyer’s remorse after taking a job? Maybe the company culture was totally different than advertised, or maybe the health benefits were more expensive and less comprehensive than you were led to believe.

Glassdoor gives you insight into life inside major employers by allowing current and former employees to post reviews.

Tip: You can also search open jobs, set up job alerts, and see sample interview questions submitted by users who interviewed at the organization.

FlexJobs

Best for: When you need remote, freelance, part-time, or otherwise flexible work.

Unlike the other sites on this list, FlexJobs charges a monthly fee. However, if you’re looking for flexible work, including telecommuting-friendly or part-time positions, you may regard it as money well-spent. FlexJobs vets all its listings, so you don’t have to worry about weeding out work-from-home scams while you’re searching.

Google for Jobs

Best for: When you’re tired of seeing the same job listing five times.

If you use Google – and you do – you’ll find Google for Jobs’ interface familiar and easy to use. It’s also easy to access: just start at Google and type in your keywords, e.g., “graphic design jobs” and see open jobs in your area.

Tip: Want to search in other areas? Add a location to your search, e.g., “graphic design jobs in Pittsburgh.” Google for Jobs also saves time by weeding out identical listings.

More Sites to Speed Up Your Job Search

Niche Job Search Sites

Best for: When your industry, job, or circumstances demand a tailored fit.

Depending on what you do for a living, a niche job site might be the best resource for your search. The big sites and search engines often aggregate listings, but they might not have every opportunity from your industry or area of interest.

A few niche job sites worth trying: Idealist.org for non-profit jobs, K12JobSpot for education jobs, Snagajob for hourly jobs, and Stack Overflow for tech jobs.

Tip: Not sure if there’s a niche job site for your search? Ask connections in your field what they use to find work.

Employer Websites

Best for: When you want to go right to the source.

Do you have a dream employer in mind – or maybe a whole list of them? If so, head directly to the careers page of your favorite companies. They’ll have job listings and may also provide links to other resources like mission statements, employee benefits, and work-life balance expectations. Plus, when you submit your application, you’ll know it’s going to the right place.

Tip: To save a step or two, use DEJobs to search for and apply to over 2 million jobs posted by leading employers.

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7 Things You Can Do Now to Make Money When You’re In Between Jobs

Inevitably, job searching is a difficult time, and you need to be on top of your game to perform well during interviews. Financial strain during your job search only serves to exasperate the stress that can come when you’re looking for a job. Fortunately, you can take your finances into your own hands when you are unemployed or underemployed.

How to Make Money Online or From Home While Job Searching

1. Share Your Thoughts and Earn Cash

Put your opinions to work! Share them in paid surveys from Opinion Outpost. You can earn cash, gift cards, and chances to win $10,000 all by completing surveys on topics relevant to you!

How to Get Started: You can sign up here to start earning cash. Want more options? Check out our guide on how to make money when you’re unemployed.

2. Start Freelancing Today

It’s very possible that you have skills that you can leverage as a freelancer. There is ample opportunity to make money online as a freelancer, and you can find everything from entry-level gigs anyone can do to corporate consulting work.

How to Get Started: It’s free to sign up on and browse jobs on sites like Upwork.com, Peopleperhour.com, or Guru.com. Be sure to fill out your profile, and link to any personal sites you may have (LinkedIn, a portfolio or blog, for example) that are relevant to the gigs you’ll be applying to. When browsing jobs,  think about both your professional and your personal skill set.

For example, maybe you’re an accountant who has a really awesome personal Instagram account—in addition to a freelance accounting gig, you could also apply for social media management positions. Common entry-level and mid-level work from home freelance jobs include:

• Data administration
• Virtual assistant
• Social media manager
• Virtual office manager
• Content writer
• Transcriber
• Project coordinator

3. Learn Graphic Design.

Graphic design is another way to make money online fast. While it sounds like a major feat, with the proliferation of free graphic tools like Canva, it’s easier than ever to become a graphic designer, especially if you focus on digital, rather than print design.

How to Get Started: Here’s a list of free graphic design courses. In addition to free design tools like Canva and Vectr, you can also do a free trial on standard industry platforms such as Adobe Photoshop and Sketch. You can find freelance design gigs on sites like Upwork.com, Peopleperhour.com, or Guru.com, or even on Craigslist! In addition, participating in contests on 99 Designs is a great way to get experience while potentially earning cash.

4. Clean Out Your Closet.

If you have clothes, shoes or accessories you don’t wear, considering selling them online. You don’t need to own designer duds in order to make money selling your clothes online. With the right approach, you can sell gently-worn, mainstream brands.

How to Get Started: Platforms like Poshmark and Mercari make it super easy and quick to sell your clothes from the comfort of your own home. To sell your items fast, be sure to take quality photos, describe your items thoroughly, and match or beat prices of similar items. Another way to make money from clothes sitting in your closet is through ThredUp. ThredUp will mail you a bag that you’ll fill with clothes and mail back to them.

5. Offer Your Services on Fiverr.

On Fiverr, you can find a cornucopia of services for sale, from data entry to translation, genealogy research to greeting card creation, astrology readings to voice-overs. Fiverr is different from other freelance sites in that you list the services you can offer, and buyers come to you with a proposal.

How to Get Started: You can sign up for free on Fiverr.com! When listing your services, it’s important to be aware of the “going rate” for that service and set your prices accordingly. Most gigs are for sale for amounts ranging from $5 to $10.

6. Join Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Despite the recent progress in AI technology, there are still many things that humans can do better than computers. Amazon Mechanical Turk allows companies to post “HITs,” or business intelligence tasks, that workers can complete for minimal amounts of cash.

How to Get Started: You can join as a worker here. Note, you’ll need an Amazon account to sign up.

7. Leverage Your Car or Home.

The “sharing economy” is only getting stronger. Your car or home could be a great way to bring in some extra income!

How to Get Started: If you have extra space in your home, consider listing it on Airbnb. Airbnb allows you have total control over the rental experience. You can choose the days you’d like to list, how much notice you need, and the minimum and maximum days that a guest can stay.

You can rent out your unused space on Neighbor. It’s free to list your space and you can get started in less than 5 minutes.

If you’re experienced with animals, another way to make use of the space in your home is through pet sitting. On sites like Rover.com,  you can sign up to board pets at your home while their owners are on vacation.

If you like driving, consider signing up as a driver for Uber or Lyft. Alternately, rent your car out for others to use in Turo marketplace.

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5 Back-to-Basics Job Search Tips

Looking for a job right now? If so, you’re probably getting plenty of advice. From old friends and colleagues to experts on social media, there are plenty of folks out there who want to guide your search.

The problem is that even well-intentioned insights can be less than helpful if they don’t apply to your situation or goals. Further, you only have so much time to devote to a job search—without cloning yourself, you can’t possibly do everything everyone says you “should” be doing to get hired.

If this is your situation right now, take heart and tune out the noise. Going back to basics will help you get your job search back on track.

1. Assess Your Needs and Plan a Strategy

Are you looking for your dream job—or are you just trying to keep the lights on? Both things can be true, by the way, but before you start searching in earnest, it’s important to have a firm grasp of your short- and long-term goals.

To do that, you need to assess your needs. If you’re like many Americans, you don’t have much in the way of an emergency fund. So, if you’re job searching while unemployed, your top priority might be to find a way to make money, fast. Consider part-time jobs, freelance work, or temp jobs to pay the bills while you conduct your search.

Once you’ve determined your goals and filled those short-term needs, you can settle in for the long haul—and it’s important to accept that it might be a long haul. Surveys show that it can take several months to find a job. It’s not just you: this really is a long, tricky, time-consuming process. Plan to do a little each day, whether it’s pruning your resume, looking for job listings, or keeping in touch with networking contacts.

And don’t forget to take care of yourself in the process. Job searching can be stressful, and it’s essential to incorporate self-care in your process.

2. Build a Resume You Can Tweak for Any Job

When was the last time you updated your resume? If it’s been over a year—or you’re actively job searching—it’s time for an edit. Make sure your resume is highlighting your most relevant experience and cut anything that’s outdated, including old jobs that no longer relate to your current career goals and lines like “references upon request.”

Starting from scratch? Use one of the many free resume templates available online to create a basic document, which you can then customize for each opportunity. And do customize it—a targeted resume is essential for a successful job search. Remember that hiring managers want to interview candidates who are interested in that specific job, not just any job.

3. Match Your Qualifications to the Job Description

Get out of the habit of skimming job postings. Instead, dig into the details provided to learn which of your qualifications will be most impressive to the hiring team. Look for keywords related to the skills, abilities, and experience required and then match your qualifications to the job in your resume, cover letter, and interviews.

4. Create a Targeted Cover Letter

In an era when job seekers in many industries have multiple social media profiles, online resumes, and portfolios, it might seem strange to labor over a cover letter. Doesn’t a cover letter just restate what your other documents, profiles, and sites already reveal?

Well, yes and no. It’s true that a hiring manager could probably figure out from your (well-organized, targeted) resume that you’re the perfect candidate for the job. But given that recruiters typically spend seconds reviewing a resume, there’s a good chance that they’d miss how awesome you are.

A targeted cover letter gives you a chance to tell that story yourself. Again, templates are your friend here, but you’ll need to customize your letter for each opportunity. Remember that even when job titles are similar, employers’ requirements will be different, even if subtly so.

5. Find Job Leads Quickly

When you’re looking for a job, time is of the essence. You simply don’t have hours to waste searching in the wrong places or talking to the wrong people. To maximize your job hunting time, look for job leads:

• On job search sites. Use the best job search engines and niche sites to find job listings that are right for you. Search by keyword and location and sign up for email alerts based on your focus.
• Through social media. Social media can help you find job listings, build your professional network, and create a personal brand. It’s also an easy way to let your contacts know that you’re searching for work.
• Through friends and colleagues. Networking remains one of the best ways to find a job, with some experts estimating that as many as 85% of jobs are filled via referral. Best of all, networking can support other methods of finding job leads. For example, if you find a job listing that looks promising on LinkedIn, you might remember that you have a contact at the employer and ask them to put in the good word.
• At your college career services office. Many colleges offer free job search assistance to alumni for life. So even if you graduated long ago, it’s worth reaching out to your college career services office to see if they can hook you up with leads, resume help, interview coaching, and more.
• Via informational interviews. Via LinkedIn or your professional network, connect with hiring managers at employers where you’d love to work. Set up informational interviews to learn more about the company culture, potential job opportunities, and employee requirements. Note: These meetings typically do not lead directly to job openings, so don’t plan on targeting roles during your first conversations. However, they are a chance to build a relationship with folks on the inside and get an idea of how to present yourself as an ideal candidate.
• Through professional associations. Join industry groups and associations and gain a built-in support network of people in your field. Get advice from people who really understand your career and stay in the loop on emerging trends, opportunities, and resources.

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How Competitor Analysis Can Benefit Your Job Search

Competitor analysis frameworks evaluate how a company is performing compared to other competitors. This helps businesses identify areas of weakness where other companies are excelling. With this information, companies can prioritize both growth and success within the industry.

How Competitor Analysis Can Help Your Job Search 

Believe it or not, a competitor analysis framework is just as beneficial to you as it is to a company. When applying for a job, you can perform a competitor analysis to see how you compare to other candidates. This can help you identify areas you need to work on, and unique skills you can use to your advantage. The following is a step by step guide to complete your own using one competitor analysis framework called the “Porter’s Five Forces”.

Porter’s Five Forces 

Porter’s Five Forces takes a closer look at the competition and how they compare to you as a prospective job candidate. You’ll have a better understanding of where you need to catch up, as well as where you’re above the competition. Before getting started, print out this Porter’s Five Forces worksheet and grab a pen or pencil.

The following five forces are what you will focus on in this framework:

1. Existing Competitors

This section will focus on other applicants applying to the same position as you. In the workforce today, competition is very fierce. It’s likely a hiring manager will receive a high amount of applicants for the position you desire. In this section, brainstorm potential candidates you think are applying to the position. This can include previous interns, college graduates, or feeder positions to the role.

2. Bargaining Power of Buyers

In the job search process, those applying represent the buyers in your framework. You are one buyer out of hundreds. In this section, you will address what you can offer to a prospective company. Compare your offers to the position you are applying for and its prerequisites. Then think about how you can bargain with your employers if you get hired. For example, if you can bring more to the table than others, it would make sense for you to ask for a higher pay rate.

3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Your employers have the same bargaining power you have as a buyer. Depending on what kind of candidate they want, a company may offer certain benefits and perks for its employees and open positions. This can even attract some potential applicants to apply to the position. In this section, list out what the position and company you are applying to are offering up as a bargain. 

4. The Threat of New Alternatives

Technology is growing faster than ever and presents a threat to us as potential candidates. Many jobs today operate with automation. AI and newly developed technology can sometimes have the power to beat us out of the competition. In this section, you’ll want to think about any alternatives the hiring manager may turn to in this position. Alternatives can include many things, but automation is just one example.

5. The Threat of New Entrants

New entrants are the people jumping into the job search process. This can be employees who took a break from working or those who are new to the area. Some new entrants may have an upper edge against you in the application process. In this section, you’ll want to brainstorm potential new entrants. Elaborate on ways they may outshine you in an application, and how you can stay competitive. 

With competition on the rise, finding a job can feel stressful and difficult. A competitor analysis framework is a great way to keep yourself on the upper end of the competition. Identifying your weaknesses and strengths can also prepare you for future  interviews.

To learn about strategies you can use to land the job of your dreams, check out Jobhero’s post for more competitor analysis frameworks you can use in your job search today.

Guest author Corey Doane is a Content Marketing Specialist at Siege Media and has a B.S. in Public Relations. She has a passion for writing and loves creating content that covers business and lifestyle topics. When she isn’t working, you can find her sipping on an iced coffee and spending time with her family. 

 

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