Step 1: Find a Job for Your Resume

It's best to find a job before you write your resume. Why? Because your resume is a marketing piece for your job search. And the more you know about the job you want, the better you can target your resume.

Tools to Find a Job

To know if a job is right for you, you may need to learn what skills and knowledge sets are required for that job. Here are some ways to find that out:

Check out my Career Options Research Center, which gives a lot of info on the skills and education required for each of the occupations listed.

Use the Indeed Job Search Engine on this page to pull up lots of jobs in your field. To do this, enter any or all of these:

• A job title (such as software test engineer) or type of work (such as engineering) you want to learn about.
• Your skill and knowledge sets (such as coding, animation, and sports). You may be surprised at what job titles your search pulls up.
• The salary or pay you want (put this in the "what" field). This can also help you run an informal salary survey for jobs in your line of work and location.
• Your zip code to narrow your search to jobs near where you live.

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When the search results come up, click on jobs that look right for you, and read the job posts to find out which ones you qualify for. Even if the job is not in your area, the post might be used for targeting your resume for a job like it near you.

Once you find a job that's a good fit, make a list of keywords for that job and be sure to get them into lists or phrases on your resume.

When you're done with this step, click Next>> (below). You've just made a big move toward having a great resume!

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