6 Tips to Find a Job with Indeed

When I took the position on the Board of Directors here at Crossroads I had no idea just how relevant what we do would be to me. In the past two years I’ve left a career, spent time unemployed, found a new job, experienced the fear of layoff during Corona, and found yet another job. In fact, this year when I changed jobs I even changed career paths, leaving high level administration for accounting. It’s been a whirlwind and I’ve experienced many of the struggles and emotions that land people in our ministry. Being at a crossroad in your career in hard but these are unprecedented times we’re in and the job market is more challenging than ever before. I’ve been there and it’s been a sweet reminder of just how important the work we do here is.

During these crazy two years I’ve had my best job search luck with Indeed. I’ve used all the main job search sites but Indeed, to me, is the easiest and most straightforward. I found 2 of my last 3 jobs via Indeed and the third job I found via word of mouth (also a great source – make sure you’ve put feelers out with your network). Here’s a few tips and tricks for making Indeed work (pun intended) for you:

• Spend Time on Set Up. Before you begin using the Indeed job search you’re going to need to make sure your profile and resume(s) are set up correctly. In this process you’ll be able to save the fields and positions that you’re interest in. This will cut down on search time. If you’re looking for a job in nursing you certainly don’t need to waste time reading through waitressing and lawn care jobs and vice versa. With other search sites I found this to be extremely wasteful of time and energy. I would get ridiculous job recommendations touting that this position is ‘perfect’ for me when in fact I was over or under qualified. So make sure you set up your profile and resume, then carefully set your position and industry interests. Indeed makes it easy to wade through the muck.
• Use Advanced Job Search. This is the feature I loved best about Indeed. It allows you to be very specific about the industry, position, salary, and geographic location you want to search. Even better? You can search based on certain words. This can drastically reduce your search results to help you find your best fit. For example if you’re a nurse practitioner, you’re going to want to search for both of those words because ‘nurse’ is going to pull LPN, RN and CNA jobs as well. This will help you eliminate the ‘noise’ and get the best results.
• Take Advantage of Automation. Indeed allows you to set up Job Alerts. This will send you an e-mail daily with a list of jobs that match your criteria. I found this extremely helpful in my own search and highly recommend setting this up. I will admit, after I found my job it was extremely satisfying to turn off all the job search e-mails that had been filling my inbox for three months! While you’re in this season though, take advantage of having the searching done for you. This will allow you more time for other pieces of the job search puzzle like interview prep, networking, and sending thank you notes after interviews.
• Research Companies Not Just Jobs. One feature of Indeed I wholeheartedly believe every job seeker should take advantage of is being able to research the companies you’re considering. I have shared previously here on the blog that I once took a job that I later realized was horribly unethical. I left. This could have been avoided had I had access to and read former employee reviews (don’t worry, I went back and left a detailed review to help others avoid my mistake). Now, I will admit you’ll probably find every company has a few angry past employees that just want to complain so don’t take every comment to heart. Look for consistency in the reviews given by both former and current employees. If the majority of the employees say it’s a toxic work environment or provides no work/life balance – these are red flags. You want to find the right next job and this includes finding a company and work environment that fits you.
• Track Your Applications. I love this feature of Indeed. This area lets you know if your application has been viewed, how many others have applied, and what stage in the process the company is in. Being pretty extremely type A, I hated the waiting game and feeling like I sent countless resumes into the abyss. Indeed eliminated that frustration with their personal dashboard.
• Nail the Interview. According to Indeed itself these are the top attributes hiring managers on their site are in search of so make sure you address them when you get to the interview phase: problem solving, drive, self-direction, strategic thinking, and initiative. Have in mind specific examples of how you’ve displayed these attributes in past jobs. I suggest taking the time to write out 2-3 stories that can be used as examples of each attribute so you won’t struggle when the time comes to account for qualities you’ve claimed to possess.

The bible says in Proverbs 21:5: ‘The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes to poverty’. I encourage you that though searching (Step 5 of our 7 Steps) can be tedious and frustrating, you’re diligence in this step is crucial. This month we’ve offered you advice about LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and now Indeed. These are three of the biggest and best places to search. If you’re new to the search make sure you read our September blogs for advice about your resume – this is a critical place to invest time BEFORE you start using the search options. Your resume is the foundation of the search and finding great job options won’t be useful until you’ve got a distinctive resume to send. Have questions? E-mail us or comment below. We are here to help!

Know that we at Crossroads are praying for your search. We are here to give advice and guidance in this journey. Most of all we believe that the Lord is faithful and that if you seek Him first, the rest will come with. Having been on this journey myself several times in recent years I related to the highs and lows of finding the right position and pray that these tips will help bring you to what God has next for you.

Becca Christensen is a Crossroads Career Board Member and the editor of this blog for 2020. She recently moved into accounting within the automotive industry. She’s an avid reader, an enthusiastic football fan, and competitive at any and all board games.