Most Frustrating Parts of the Job Search (& How To Make It Better!) | Indeed

Hi, it's Gina and I'm Jen, and we're back with another episode of Job Search Stories. All right. Today, we're breaking down the worst parts of the job search and talking about how to make it a little bit better. OK, so I'm excited for this episode, and I feel like we got this really good comment from Zach. And here's what he said. I've submitted so many applications and I haven't received one interview. It's getting frustrating. Yeah, I feel that. I mean, I feel like we've all been there, like just sending in all those applications and just not getting any interviews back. I feel like there's been a lot of moments where I've just like really, really needed a job. And I don't know, it's just been a lot. Yeah. I mean, the one time in my kind of career where I really felt like I was feeling the job search was when I moved to Austin. Back in my hometown, I had been in retail and like retail recruiting for like 11 years. And when I made the move, I had to make the decision. Do I want to stay in that industry, in that career path, or do I want to try something new? You know, I was in a new city. I was like six months pregnant. And I was like, oh, like our employer is going to want to hire me. So it was probably one of the more stressful job searches that I was ever in. Yeah. I mean, I feel like that's a lot in general. Like you had a lot of, she had a lot of things, a lot of things going on. There was a lot going on at that time in my life. Yeah, I think that maybe my most stressful job search was probably coming out of college because my job out of college was my internship. But like around the time that I got that job, I was like, should I take this job? You know, is that just like me being complacent and just like doing the easy thing? So I think that was like when I was like a little stressed. And then pandemic times when I was just like so overwhelmed and I was just like, I really hate my job and I hate everybody here and I just don't want to be here. So I was like really needing to get out of there. So and I think people are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and the effects of what the pandemic did to their career. Yeah. Yeah. OK, so needing a job, but not knowing where to start. Like, what is that first step you should take in your job search? When you're at that point? Sure. I think a lot of people think the first step in the job search is updating their resume and then they're going to start applying for jobs. Yeah. But really, you should be taking a step back. You know, the true first step of a job search should be self-reflection and a little bit of a self-assessment. Yeah. Because you've got to know what you're going to be applying for. Right. And so that involves you taking a look at your skills, both hard and soft, and determining which ones you're really good at and what do you want to be using in that next role. Right. Right. You also need to be doing a little bit of a personality assessment and you need to determine, do I like working with people? Do I like working alone? Because that can influence the type of roles that you're going to be looking for. You've got to be looking at things like your values. You know, what are core things that are important to you? Because those are values that you might want to be looking for in a company as well. And then essentially, you're going to want to look at your interests. You know, we spend 40 hours a week, if we're lucky, you know, sometimes more at a job. And so you want to be doing something that you're really invested in. So sometimes if we can get jobs, you know, working on things that we're really excited about, you know, that's like a dream, an ideal situation. So once you've kind of done this assessment, then you can take the step to update your resume. Make sure you just like are prepared before you go into applying for all those jobs. Have like what you are looking for in a job before you're just like sending out all those applications, getting that resume ready. Like look within. Look within. You've got to have, you know, a point of view and you've got to know what you're looking for. Because if not, that's when you find yourself applying to all the things and then needing to update your resume. I mean, we talked about that in another episode, like the mass applying, like, is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? And it's like it becomes a bad thing. Like you said, you're just going to feel like you're putting all those applications out into the abyss, which I feel like is another pain point of just like job searching is that black hole of when you are putting out all these job applications and you're just not getting a response. Have you ever felt like you found the job for you? Like you read that job posting and you were like, oh, I'm perfect for this job. And you just were like anxiously waiting for that response and never got it. That's happened to me. I know it has. Well, let's hear your experience. I mean, I ended up getting the job eventually because, you know, I'm that girl. But there was just like, oh my gosh, I was so anxious. I was up at night like I could not focus on anything because I wanted that job so badly because I like reading that job description, I knew I was the perfect person for that job. But also knowing that like, you know, sometimes you can see how many people applied for the job. And like, it's just so anxiety inducing knowing that like you think you're perfect for the job, but like Joe, Tony, Erica and Brittany also think they're perfect for the job. So that that was the hard part for me. How do you feel about this? Like, what do you do when you're just submitting all these applications and you're not getting a response? What's your advice to our viewers and our listeners on that? The first thing you want to do is actually go back to the job description or the job posting and make sure that they have not stated a specific date in there because it is common for the recruiter, whoever drafted the JD to put a date and say, you know, I won't be reaching out to job seekers or candidates until X date. If that date has passed or there's no date available, if it's been a week since you've applied, that's an appropriate amount of time that has passed for you to be able to follow up. And this applies to interview situations as well. If you had it, haven't heard back one week, you can reach out to the recruiter. Let them know you're still interested in the position. If you're just at that application stage and you don't know necessarily who to reach out to, it's OK to check their company website or social media to see if you can identify a recruiter and you can try to connect with them then. But just know that, you know, sometimes depending on how the local job market is, it can be a numbers game. So if you feel like you've put effort in to follow up and you're not hearing anything back, honestly, one of the best things that you can do is just keep going with your job search. You know, try to focus your time and energy on applying for jobs and, you know, responding to recruiters who are getting back to you. Honestly, what I'm hearing is patience, reach out and then also like focus on what you can control. Like you can't actually control when someone's going to come back to you and be like, you're on to the next round. But you can just continue your search and see what happens. Definitely. I think my biggest pain point, which I talk about a lot, and you're probably going to get annoyed with me. The worst part about job searching is updating your resume, writing resume, anything that has to do with resumes. So I feel like this is a change in my tune because before I was like cover letters, you know, but don't worry about me. Before it was cover letters, now it's resumes. It's kind of a combination of both. I feel like I have more hate, not hate. I'm more of a disdain for cover letters, but resumes are up there. That's some strong language. Disdain, I changed it. Like I just I have a grudge against them. I mean, I don't blame you. I'm going to be honest, like my least favorite part of a job search, of my personal job search is updating my resume. Yeah. You know, if you see me updating my resume, I'm looking for a new job. Yeah, no, that's valid. That's how it is. Yeah. And I can sit here and I can say the best advice for you is to make sure you're updating it every six months. But sometimes when we're in the day to day, that six months kind of passes by. But you did give me good advice in another episode, and it was to just update my profile. So absolutely update something. Yeah. Keep something up to date. It takes no time at all to update the profile. You're selling me more and more on updating my resume, but cover letters, I'm not writing a love letter for your company. Sorry, I'm not. No, but it seems like we both agree that updating our resumes is just not a fun part of the job search. Drop a comment down below and let us know if you agree or disagree. Moving on. Do you feel like people should update their resume for every single role? Honestly, it depends. And I know that's not a great answer, but I mean, I can definitely talk to you about the benefits of tailoring your resume for each role. Yeah. And if you've done some form of self-assessment before you've gone into an active job search, then you've already determined what you might be looking for. Right. So if you've updated your resume after that, it's already going to be pretty focused. You know, it's very unlikely that you're going to be applying to lots of different jobs and lots of different industries and role titles. So it should already be updated and kind of fairly focused. But if you are going to keep any parts of your resume tailored for a role, definitely take a look at that professional summary and the skill section because you do want to compare it to that job description. And those are great opportunities for you to really highlight how you're that best fit. Because remember, if a recruiter's reading top down or that ATS is scanning, it's going to be picking up on those things. So it's not as much updating, but more like tailoring your resume to every role you're applying for. You could be doing, you know, little tweaks. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. What do you really think about adding your resume to sites like Indeed to, you know, help and aid in your job search? I mean, they are an aid. Sites like Indeed and free tools like the Indeed profile do make the job search easier. I mean, one, you're updating your preferences in one place. You're letting Indeed know what types of roles it should be sending you, especially if you've set up job alerts. You're able to put in the availability you want, the location you want, even salary. So that's a great way to just give a tool your information and let it suggest opportunities that fit those needs. And then, of course, if you're using the Indeed resume, you can either download what you create and apply to jobs with it, or you can set it to searchable. And that lets employers find you when they're looking for qualified candidates. And there's really no pressure. So if an employer reaches out to you because they found your resume on Indeed and you're looking it over and you're like, you know, this really isn't for me. You can just delete it. There's no pressure to say like, OK, I'm going to go ahead and talk to you. You can just let the opportunities come to you. And if you like it, move forward. Indeed profile. It's like the ultimate like job dating site. You're like interested, not interested. Let's meet up. OK, I love it. Like, I should do it more. So I feel like, you know, we've kind of talked about like how to alleviate those pain points about just like resume and all those other things. But like, I think the hardest part, other than all those things, is really finding the right job for you. I feel like sometimes with my particular set of skills, I don't really know what job I should be looking for. Have you ever felt like that? I feel like you also have a very particular set of skills, like you're good at everything. Oh, thank you so much. You're perfect. I'm perfect. I'm good at career coaching. Yeah, but you're good at other things too. I'm good at career coaching. I've got a pretty, you know, broad set of skills. Yeah. So I'm pretty fortunate in that I can, you know, be put into different situations. But when it comes to finding opportunities that I'm really interested in, I need to find some diversity in a role, right? Like, I gotta be doing a lot of different things. Yeah. And if you're someone like you or like me, where do you look? Like, how do you find jobs if you don't even know where to find a job? Yeah. Where do you go? I mean, it seems like such a simple question or such a simple thing to do, right? Jobs are everywhere. Everybody's hiring. But it actually is very hard sometimes, right? And it's not just me saying that, you know, in fact, in Indeed's 2024 Workforce Insights Report, 21% of job seekers surveyed indicated that the inability to find job postings for the job they want was a barrier. So people feel this. So when we talk about job search strategies, there's a mix that you could do. Where do you find jobs? Of course, you can find them on online job boards and websites. Go to places like Indeed. Go to Glassdoor. You're going to find opportunities there. You can also leverage your professional network. It's called the hidden job market. You know, if you're keeping contact with old colleagues, they might be able to let you know of opportunities that come available at their companies, right? You can go to meetups and join professional organizations. If you mingle with other people that are interested in the things that you are, they can connect you to things. So you really have to kind of vary your approach sometimes. And eventually you'll find an opportunity that could be right for you. I love that. There's like so many other ways that aren't just the traditional ways to find jobs that you just gave to people. You gave them some little nuggets. Job boards are great. Indeed is great. But also networking, because, you know, you gave me a reason to kind of like networking. Still don't love it, but I like it a little bit. And if you do nothing else, if you know what kind of job you're looking for, set up a job alert, just get the emails. You know, you can control how often you get them. If you want them daily, if you want them weekly, you know, you make that determination. But that's a great way to passively job search. Love that. Well, just to wrap it up a little bit, I want to go back to Zach's question. So how can people get notice their resumes just getting passed over? What's your best advice? So to make sure that your resume is getting noticed, one, tailor it to a job. Now, this could be really tiny tweaks. Update your professional summary. Update those skills. Make sure you're comparing it to the job description. And if they've indicated a skill or a set of experience that you have, make sure it's included. Make sure your contact information is up to date. You want people to be able to reach you. And of course, you want to make sure that you keep your Indeed profile up to date. So have those updated preferences, updated skills. And you could also set your Indeed resume to searchable so employers can reach out to you. Beautiful. I feel like this was a great episode. I love chatting about this because I love to complain. But that's what we have in this episode. Thank you so much for watching. Please make sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any job search stories. And also, you can go back and watch some of our other episodes. And if you have a question you want answered, just make sure to leave a little comment in the comment section down below. Bye. You're childish. You look so cute. You look like a baby stretched out. The Indeed 2020. I think it's the frogs. The frogs are lucky.