Need money ASAP? Here are some strategic ways to organize your job search for faster results.
When you’re out there hitting the metaphorical pavement on your remote work job search, the search itself can start to feel like a full-time job. But time is money, especially when that time is spent looking for jobs, and the one thing you don’t want to do is waste precious energy hunting through job boards only to come up empty.
If you’re having trouble cutting through the chaff to the quality work your fabulous skill set is worthy of, it’s time to work smarter, not harder — investing more energy on the front end of the search for a more strategic and organized approach to start combing through job listings. When you approach the process with a more tailored resume and list of quality search terms that will take you straight to the type of job posting you’re looking for, landing the right job gets a heckuva lot easier.
Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, sink into your favorite chair, and get ready to work. It’s time to replace your job search burnout with the energy and momentum you need to land remote work quickly.
Common Remote Job Search Problems
Whether you keep finding yourself drowning in irrelevant listings that aren’t really a good match for your skill set and long-term goals or you’re applying for loads of remote work gigs without a bite from employers, the end result is the same: You need a job and can’t find one. But breaking down why that keeps happening could be the key to getting through to the interview phase.
To succeed at the job search game, it’s helpful to start with an understanding of why your quest for good remote work may be failing. Here are some of the most common reasons this can happen:
Applicant Tracking Software (ATS)
If you’re submitting dozens or even hundreds of applications without any replies, it’s possible your resume isn’t getting through the ATS firewall. ATS is a screening program many employers use to streamline their process by filtering candidates based on the specific qualifications they’re looking for, as stated directly in their resumes.
Just as a website is more likely to come up in a Google search when it uses certain search engine-optimized (SEO) keywords, your resume may be getting screened out because it lacks certain keywords that an employer’s ATS is screening for. To overcome this barrier, you’ll need to steer away from more generalized resumes and instead, infuse yours with the specific keywords the hiring company is looking for.
Poorly-Matched Qualifications
If you’ve been on a job hunt for some time, it’s completely understandable if you’ve started spamming your resume out to every job listing with the words “remote work” in it. But with more job seekers turning to AI employment search platforms than ever, you can just about guarantee many of those resumes are landing in a massive bottleneck of generic or inappropriately skill-matched resumes. And that doesn’t do anyone any good.
On the flip side, overselling your skill set for a job with a tempting salary can lead everyone to waste time on a poor interview. That’s why it pays to closely read through every job listing you’re interested in to ensure your skills, achievements, and overall qualifications align with each job you’re applying for. It’s better to apply for a handful of jobs you could actually land than to expend precious job hunt energy on a bunch of bad matches.
Job Search Is Too General
Even when you’re fairly conscientious about applying for jobs well-suited to your unique set of qualifications, it’s all too easy to end up with a long list of job postings that in no way match what you’re looking for. And who has time to read through a few hundred jobs just to find one or two that might potentially yield a follow-up?
To filter out all those bad matches, you need more specific search terms that will get you closer to the types of jobs you’re looking for. Start taking notes while you’re on the job hunt, experimenting with search terms to find the search engine language that generates more of what you’re looking for. Write down keywords that come up when you’re checking out a job listing that works well for you. Even better, take screenshots of the best job listings so you can spend time mining them for good job search keywords when you get a spare moment.
Ghost Jobs
One of the most frustrating phenomena when searching for jobs today is the “ghost job” — a type of job board mirage that no one ever intended you to apply for. And unfortunately, these spooky little listings have become so omnipresent that they’re starting to be a real morale breaker.
The term ghost job refers to just about any job an employer lists with no intention of hiring for. Sometimes, that listing exists to appear as if the company is fulfilling its commitment to open a job up to outside candidates, despite the hiring manager or team already choosing to promote someone internally.
Another common reason for ghost jobs is to falsely convey the appearance of organizational growth to that company’s shareholders. Some organizations may even use ghost jobs to conduct free market research on the quality of candidates who might be interested in a role if they choose to hire at a later date or build a pool of candidates just in case.
Whatever a company’s reason or reasons for listing them, ghost jobs can be a real drag on everyone’s search for employment and tend to generally clog up job boards these days. While they can be hard to avoid, taking the time to identify specific details outlined in the job listing could potentially help you cut down on these time-wasters.
Refine Your Resume and Cover Letter
You’re probably not going to land your dream job simply by uploading a generic resume and cover letter to each new job listing. But you may potentially streamline your job search process by ensuring you’ve got a few highly tailored resumes and cover letters ready to go with just a few tweaks at a moment’s notice.
Think of the job search process as a recursive one, referring back to your notes between job hunts so you can polish your resume and cover letter every time you encounter a new qualification that keeps popping up in listings. For example, a remote freelance writer might create slightly different resumes and cover letters for the separate roles of Business Blog Writer, Web Content Creator, and Travel Writer.
Organize your separate job application materials into distinct folders on your hard drive or in a cloud storage system like Google Drive, so they’re ready to go when you need them. That way, you don’t have to waste time rewriting or – worse – pass up a job opportunity because a specific resume for that role isn’t upload-ready when you need it. And don’t forget to update your potentially neglected LinkedIn page at the same time, since many employers check them these days.
Set a Dedicated Job Search Schedule
It can be all too easy to get caught up in your current responsibilities (not to mention the job you’ve already got). Don’t take a chance that you’ll miss out on the best jobs by trying to squeeze in your job search during your after-work downtime or between school events and family dinners.
Choose at least one day each week to look for jobs, and set reminders on your phone to ensure you don’t miss out. Making sure you’ve got a clear schedule and plenty of privacy for your job search sessions will also help ensure you’ve got plenty of mental bandwidth to give your remote work search the focus and attention it deserves.
Download a Job Tracker
If you haven’t already, it’s well worth your time to start tracking which jobs you’ve applied for and exactly where you are in the job hunting process. Of course, you can always go old school and start tracking your job applications with a good, old-fashioned spiral notebook and a number two pencil, an Excel or Google Sheet, or a downloadable planner, like the WFH Career Planner that Holly offers.
But if you want to truly elevate your job search experience so nothing slips through the cracks, there are a handful of super cool job tracker platforms and apps available for download. All-in-one tracking hubs like Teal, Huntr, Notion, and Jobscan offer a range of tools from straightforward job application tracking to resume builders equipped with ATS-cracking tips. Depending on the platform and subscription plan, some even offer tools for tracking application deadlines or notes pages for things like common interview questions and company information you can impress the interviewer with.
Final Thoughts and Advice
If you’ve submitted what feels like hundreds of resumes in your quest for quality, high-paying remote work, don’t let it get you down or make you feel like you’re less worthy as a candidate. The bitter reality is that ghost jobs and AI have made the job search more frustrating than it’s ever been in recent years. In other words, it most likely isn’t a reflection on you or what you bring to the table.
At the same time, you are a worthy candidate in search of a good remote job. Investing in the effort it takes to organize and streamline that search will give you a serious edge over the competition and help you land the remote work you deserve fast.
What are your favorite hacks and tips for organizing the remote work job search? Let me know in the comments, and good luck with your remote work hunt, you fabulous Work at Home Woman!
Do you want a way to cut through the scams and online noise? The Remote Job Membership can help you with every step of your remote job search. Learn more here.
