Step 1: Find a Job

It’s important to know what type of job you want before you write your resume. Why? Because your resume is a marketing piece for that job. And the more you know about that job, the better you can target your resume.

Deciding what job you want entails understanding what skill and knowledge sets are required for that job. Here are some ways to figure that out:

Explore your career possibilities at our Career Options Research Center, which gives lots of information about the skills and education required for each of the occupations listed.

Use the Indeed Job Search Engine on this page to explore job descriptions. Do this by entering any or all of the following:

• A specific job title (such as software test engineer) or general type of work (such as engineering) you want to investigate
• Your skills and knowledge sets (such as coding, animation, and sports). You may be surprised at what job titles the search engine suggests.
• Your desired salary or pay (enter this in the “what” window). This can also help you conduct an informal salary survey for jobs in your field and geographic area.
• Your zip code to narrow your search to current job openings near where you live.

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When the search results come up, click on job openings that look interesting and read the job descriptions to find out if you qualify for that type of job. Even if the job isn’t in your geographic area, it might be helpful for targeting your resume for a similar job near you.

Once you’ve settled on a job that’s a good fit, make a list of keywords for that job and incorporate them into your resume.

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