Tips for Successful Job Recruiting

7 Tips I Followed to Find a Job

Finding a new job is stressful. It is not like getting a job when you are applying to jobs while in college. When I was in college, I went through a streamlined process where the recruiters came to my campus and interviewed me. I barely needed to do the upfront work of researching roles open at companies because I received this information on a silver plate.

After the first job, it takes a lot out of you to do research and prepare. When I was looking for a career change, I not only wanted to change jobs but also industries. I quickly learned that finding another job is a full-time job, so I, unfortunately, had to sacrifice my summer to work my two full-time jobs.

1. Determine the industry where your interests lie. I enjoyed working at my first job because I had the opportunity to interact with a lot of brilliant people. However, the content of what I was working on did not interest me at all. I was demotivated from doing extra work, did not like speaking about my job with friends or family, and thinking about work did not jazz me up every morning. I wanted to be in a more innovative and exciting environment, which led me to believe I should look to work in the tech industry. Defining the industry that you are interested in is essential so you can limit your search — even if the industry is as broad as “technology” or “financial services.” Ideally, you could define the industry more specifically, such as “fin-tech” or “asset management.”
2. Determine what positions you find interesting. When I first decided to leave my first job, I thought that any role in the tech industry would be ok for me as long as I can switch out of my current position. I quickly realized that this was not true. I did not, for example, want to work in an accounting or compliance role because it didn’t sound appealing to me. And other positions, I just couldn’t apply to because I did not meet the minimum qualifications. So, I did some initial research on what jobs were open and available at a sample of firms. I looked at what requirements I met and looked at what best suited my interests. Based on my experience and my interests, I started to narrow my search to operations and strategy roles. I highly recommend narrowing your search to specific functions because it will help you keep focused and allow for synergies when you practice interviewing.
3. Use LinkedIn. When I first started my search, I thought of the recruiting process as a game of numbers. If I was selective, sometimes I barely got an invite for a recruiter call. So I started to mass apply to several firms. To do this, I used LinkedIn. I set up a Job Alert using LinkedIn’s Job Alert Feature — where I specified the keywords I wanted in a job and my preferred location. Every day I received an email that had jobs that fit this category, and I did a review of that list and applied to the posts that I found most applicable to me. This process was made even easier by LinkedIn’s other feature called ‘LinkedIn Easy Apply.’ LinkedIn does a fabulous job of doing a lot of research for you. It provides insights such as how many people from your school currently work there or how many connections you have at the firm. So, I used LinkedIn heavily throughout my search.
4. Use Initial Phone Calls as Practice Opportunities: There were times when I received phone calls from firms that I did not want to work at or received calls for roles where I was severely underqualified. I still took those opportunities to get on a call. During every call, interviewers leave time for you to ask questions. I made sure to use that as a chance to learn more about the industry. I mean who better to learn from than someone working on these products and teams every day! This helped me learn a lot about the industry itself. Also, these calls were a great way to get some interview prep under my belt.
5. Take the time to Network: Leveraging my network proved hugely beneficial. Referrals are essential, especially if you are looking to getting into a larger firm that may receive thousands of applications. It helps your resume get to the top of the pile and, at the very least, receive an answer. Sometimes even getting a no was better than just wondering whether a company would respond. I used LinkedIn here, as well. LinkedIn tells you if you have first or second-degree connections at the firm. You can reach out to those connections and set up 20-minute chats to learn more about the firm, culture, and position. This is crucial for you to determine whether you even want to apply to a role, and if you do, it helps a lot during the interview process.
6. Study for a Couple of Hours Each Day: I had to take several courses online to refresh my case prep, general interviewing, and technical skills. I dedicated 5 hours at the minimum to practice each week. I asked friends to prep me and got on video calls, where they asked me questions. It wasn’t easy to sacrifice my weekend time, but necessary. But some parts were made more fun by interacting with friends.
7. Have resilience: The job search took a toll on my mental health. It was filled with rejections and a lot of sleepless nights. But it was a necessary evil. Even though it was difficult, the result was rewarding, so just have an end goal in mind and work towards it. I learned to not get married to the idea of working for a specific company pretty early on because they might reject you or the position itself might close down (happened at a couple of startups I would have loved to work at). Also just having hope and giving yourself a break at the end of each day is extremely important so you don’t burn yourself out. Keep trying and you can end up with some great offers!