Find a Job in the U.S.

The 10 Most Effective Ways to Find a Job in the U.S.

1) Be patient!
According to Richard Bolles in “What Color is Your Parachute”, the average job search averages 2-6 months.•Get ready for 6 months of hard work, rejection, insecurity, and maybe even depression. Keep calm and remind yourself that if you keep trying hard, you will eventually get the job you want.

2) Discipline yourself! 
Job hunting is a job in itself. The average job hunter in America only spends about 5 hours a week looking for a job. Treat job hunting like a serious job in itself and give it your full work discipline. Carefully plan out how you will use your time and stick to your schedule.

3) Don't wait for the job to come to you -- GO GET IT!
Research has shown that answering newspaper ads, using agencies, using school recruiting offices, sending resumes are some of the least effective ways to get a job. Going to a company and talking to people (especially the boss) is one of the most effective ways to get a job.

4) Pack your schedule!
The average job hunter only visits a few companies per week. The average job hunter may visit 10 – 70 companies before getting a job. It’s a numbers game: the more people you see, the sooner you will get the job you want.

5) Where's the growth?
Knowing the job market means knowing who is hiring. Often large companies hire in huge bursts of expansion (and downsize the same way as well). Small companies hire smaller numbers, but over 95% of all companies in America are small.

6) Network, Network, Network!
Let the world know that you are available for work. Discuss with family, friends, teachers, neighbors, lovers, strangers,… everyone! Don’t ask people for jobs directly; ask for their help and advice. Build a network digitally as well as verbally and use email, fax, and Web sites to help connect you to your “helpers”.

7) Visit the Institutions!
Extend your network to the larger society. Visit your old school, meet with the president and deans if you can, talk with your teachers, and get advise from your counselors and advisors. Stop by City Hall, the Library, the Post Office, even the local Fire Department if you can. All these social institutions see it as their job to help society and to do all they can to network with you.

8) Hit the Books, Again!
Keep your professional skills sharp while job hunting. Attend professional conferences, seminars, lectures, and groups.  Network with your peers! Take part in professional organizations and especially online discussion groups. Develop a portfolio of your best work for all the interviews you will receive from your job hunting efforts.

9) Be Flexible about What Job You Will Take!
Keep this in mind.  Those people who are more flexible about the job they will take will increase their chances of getting a job.  Often a job is not exactly what you are looking for, but it might still be a very good job for you for other reasons.  Perhaps you may gain a great deal of valuable work experience from this job.  Perhaps it will allow you to network with other professionals.  Perhaps it will give you more opportunities to learn and grow within this company.  Be flexible about what you will take, and you may find more opportunities within that job.

10) Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket.
Be diverse.  Be a “Jack-of-all-trades”. Education is a way of life.  If you need to go back to school for a certificate or degree that will open the door to the career you really want, then you might want to consider that.  Keep your career plans flexible so that you have a chance to grow in several directions and not in just one.