One Step to Take Control of Your Job Search

Are you seeking to be employed in May 2023 or perhaps sooner?

While conducting a job search takes time and incorporates many different steps, there is one step in particular that will have a positive ripple effect on various aspects of your ENTIRE job search!

The one step is to consistently read job postings!

 Don’t know what interests you?

Read job postings to help figure that out, paying attention to which parts of various jobs stimulate your interests and seem like something you would like to do.

Already know what interests you?

Read job postings to understand what employers seek in job candidates.

What to Pay Attention To…

  1. Keep track of companies and job titles that seem to align with your current and future skills, knowledge, experience, and education.
  2. Keep track of the skills, knowledge, and experience identified in job descriptions that employers state as being needed, noticing any consistent patterns in what is sought.

Ripple effect of reading job postings:

  • You learn what employers seek in candidates for positions and can tailor your application materials to be responsive to an employer’s needs;
  • You will see which companies are hiring and have openings, helping to give focus to your job search;
  • You can make a list of companies of interest and then use LinkedIn to reach out to recruiters and alums employed at the various companies, strategically building your network and becoming known as a potential candidate for openings;
  • You can add keywords to your LinkedIn profile, featuring skills that you have, that were also common to the various job postings that you viewed, reinforcing that you are a qualified applicant for various roles;
  • You can get curious and use the Job Market Insights tool on the Center for Career Development’s Agriculture, Animals, Food, and the Environment Career Community page and search occupations, filtering to obtain a list of top employers in various geographic locations.

The Agriculture, Animals, Food, and the Environment career community is vast with hundreds of subfields and different jobs. The key is to find a few different paths of interest and take time to understand what employers seek and need in job applicants. You don’t just want to be a job candidate, but rather a qualified and competitive job candidate!

Consider using these job board sites (just a few of many that exist) as you explore job postings:

Careers In Food

AG Careers

Green Jobs

Animal Jobs Digest

Image by javipolinario from Pixabay

By Kay Kimball Gruder 

By Kay Kimball Gruder
Kay Kimball Gruder Associate Director, Graduate Student & Postdoc Career Programs and Services | Pronouns: she/her/hers