Explore your options!
You’ve already done your self‑discovery homework, so let’s move to the next step. Now it’s time to figure out what options you have and what kinds of jobs you can choose from. Uncle Google can instantly show you plenty of job portals. But did you know there are other ways to discover job opportunities too?
Think it through yourself
Personal networking
Talking to people about their career paths can be super useful. Not only will you build contacts that might come in handy later, but you can also get feedback on how you come across to others. Plus, with networking you can soak up inspiration without paying for lectures or conferences.
Where do I start?
- Make a list of people you could reach out to. Friends, family, teachers, former classmates, influencers, well‑known people.
- Think about what you want to ask and what topic you’d like to talk about. It can be a general chat about their career or presenting your own project to get feedback.
- Reach out to them and set up a meeting.
TIP: Networking is often part of events with employers.
We know networking can feel like a big step outside your comfort zone. Start with people you already know and slowly push those boundaries.
Company career pages
If you’d rather narrow down your options instead of expanding them, focus on specific companies and organisations.
Pick a company you’ve already heard good things about or one that fits your job preferences. On their career pages, you’ll find open positions and details about how their hiring process works. Under each role, you’ll see who it’s for and what the job involves.
Use job portals
Job portals are a classic choice. They help you quickly get an overview of what’s currently out there. There are loads of them—you probably know some already—but we’ll share links to a few less obvious ones too:
TIP: Many job seekers get discouraged when they see the same ads over and over again. If that’s your experience, don’t give up! Try using keywords to make searching easier.
Keywords can take many forms. You can even use the info you gathered in the previous step. Here are some examples of how to pick good keywords:
- Hard skills: specific qualifications, certificates, degrees
- Soft skills: flexibility/adaptability, creativity, problem solving, communication, proactivity, team player
- Field: sales, services, administration, programming, banking, marketing, healthcare
- Position specifics: language skills, home office, junior/senior, career growth, client care, back office
- Workload: full time, part time, temporary job
- Name of a specific company
Explore socials
Social networks are a normal part of our lives — but do you know how to use them for your career journey?
LinkedIn is the biggest professional social platform, with more than 1.15 billion active users in 2024 according to Demandsage. Its main purpose is to build contacts and connect people and companies across industries, helping you create your own professional network. LinkedIn can be handy not only for finding contacts, but also as your personal online business card. You can even add the link to your CV! Just make sure your profile is properly filled out first.
How does it work?
- Create a profile. The more info you add, the more trustworthy you’ll look to employers. It’s not like a standard CV, you can include extra details and links.
- Search for contacts. You can find people by name, but also by field. Check out profiles of classmates, teachers, or people you know. You’ll also find companies, job opportunities, and interest groups.
- Connect and start building your social capital. You can connect with people you’ve never met — shared professional interests are what matter.
- Stay updated. Company profiles and groups are full of useful info. Add hashtags from topics you want to follow (like #innovation) so you won’t miss anything.
Facebook a Instagram
Besides sharing content, Facebook and Instagram can also be great tools for your career. You can follow profiles of inspiring people or companies to get updates from your field just by scrolling your feed. Facebook groups can also be a good source of job ads.
Digital footprint: All public social media profiles create a digital footprint. When job hunting, it might happen that a recruiter googles your name and sees posts you shared years ago. Try googling yourself, see what pops up, and think about whether some older posts might be worth deleting.
Go to events with employers
At employer events, you can get information straight from the source. You’ll meet potential employers face‑to‑face and talk to them about job openings and career opportunities. You can come with specific questions, ideas, or even with zero clue what to ask. If you’d still like to prepare a bit, try the STAR method; it helps you structure your thoughts and it’s also useful when preparing for interviews.
And where can you meet them? You can visit job fairs or conferences where you’ll meet several companies at once. We highly recommend JobChallenge Fair!
