Job Search Tips

Make a commitment to find a job before starting the search. Resolve that nothing right now is more important than finding the job you want.
Identify your goals and put them on paper, whatever they are. The goals may be, "I want to be paid well," or "I want to be outstanding in my field." Seeing your goals written down can help you plan how you will achieve them.
Draft a blueprint of steps needed to achieve your goals and look at the obstacles as well as the opportunities. Ask yourself specific questions about the job goal you have chosen.
Establish a timeline for accomplishing each step along the way to your goal. Even if you miss the target dates, you will have established a goal.

Use as many of these 13 avenues of job hunting as possible:

Use the Internet
Use contacts of family, friends, former teachers
Make cold calls at personnel offices
Get on state and federal registers or hiring programs for people with disabilities
Contact public employment services; Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, City and County Personnel Offices
Contact temporary employment agencies
Contact local college placement offices
Call job lines
Answer ads in the newspaper
Place your ad in the newspaper
Mail out resumes
Work through a job search program
Contact private employment agencies

Finally, do not stay home waiting for job offers by mail or phone. You must attack the job market each day.

A career to think about:

According to the US Dept. of Labor estimates there will be a 21% increase in job growth in medical billing and coding. Some positions allow you to work from home, and the need for health care is not going away. You can obtain a certificate in as little as 6 months. Check you local Vo-Tech for more information.

Most Common Used Job Search Methods

Method	Percent of Job Seekers using this method	Effectiveness Rate*
Applied directly to employer	66.0%	47.7%
Asked friends about where they work	50.8%	22.1%
Answered local newspaper ads	45.9%	23.9%
Asked friends about jobs elsewhere	41.8%	11.9%
Asked relatives about jobs where they work	28.4%	19.3%
Asked relatives about jobs elsewhere	27.3%	7.4%
Private employment agency	21.0%	24.2%
Civil Service test	15.3%	12.5%
School placement office	12.5%	21.4%
Asked teacher or professor	10.4%	12.1%
Union hiring hall	6.0%	22.2%
Placed ad in local newspaper	1.6%	12.9%

*: A percentage obtained by dividing number of job seekers who actually found work using the method, by the total number of job seekers who tried to use that method, whether successful or not.

Last Modified on Feb 02, 2023