Finding a Job

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Finding a job can be daunting. Where do you look? How do you write the best resume to get yourself noticed? How should you best present yourself at your interview? Use the resources below to guide your job hunting journey, and with a little luck, you’ll be employed in no time!

Where should I look for a job?

Try one of these job banks:

  • Indeed: The most comprehensive job board out there, for job hunters with or without a college degree and all kinds of experience.
  • Monster: Another general job bank with jobs of all kinds, searchable by keyword and location.
  • CareerBuilder: A general job board aimed at slightly more professional job seekers than Indeed and Monster.
  • Glassdoor: A job board where you can read company reviews written by past employees. Requires you to create an account.
  • Zip Recruiter: A job board and application site with an app that notifies you when your application has been viewed.
  • Idealist: A job board specifically for nonprofits.
  • CareerLink: The Pennsylvania-based job assistance organization has its own job bank.
  • City of Philadelphia: Features both civil service and non-civil service opportunities working for the city of Philadelphia. Applications are only accepted for a period of about 3 weeks, after which another round of positions is posted.

Largest Employers in Philadelphia

You might also try looking on the career pages for the top five employers in Philadelphia:

  1. University of Pennsylvania & Health Systems (employs 33,000 people)
  2. Comcast Corporation (employs 22,000 people)
  3. Thomas Jefferson University & Jefferson Health (employs 20,000 people)
  4. Temple University & Health System (employs 17,000 people)
  5. Trinity Health Corporation (employs 13,600 people)

How do I write a resume and cover letter?

Check out these resources:

  • 14 Tips for Writing a Rockstar Resume: How to get employers to notice your resume.
  • How to Write a Cover Letter: What to include and not include in your cover letter.
  • Profile of Your Occupation: Use O*NET’s occupation search to find a profile of the position you’re interested in. You can use the tasks and skills sections to make sure you include keywords and key responsibilities specific to your profession in the employment history section of your resume.

Resume Builders

Don’t know where to start? Try one of these resume builder tools, which will build and format your resume for you:

  • Philadelphia Works: This is the resume tool that Philly’s CareerLink offices use. It walks you through the information needed to create your resume and uses your profession to prompt you with suggestions for the responsibilities section of your resume. When you’re done, you can download your resume to Word for free.
  • Indeed: This user-friendly tool, connected to the Indeed job bank, asks you about your professional history and skills and spits out a fully-formatted resume for you to download as a PDF. Along the way, it gives you tips and suggestions for how to improve your resume.
  • LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a professional social media platform that allows you to network with others online. Once you fill out your LinkedIn profile, it also allows you to download a copy of your resume to PDF format. To do so, follow these instructions.
  • Microsoft Word Templates: Although Word doesn’t fill everything in for you like other resume builders, it offers a good collection of resume and cover letter templates that can give your resume a sleek look. To access these templates, click to create a new document in Word, and rather than creating a blank document, look in the template section for resumes and cover letters. Select the one you like best and tailor it as needed.

How should I prepare for an interview?

The job interview can seem like the scariest part of applying for a job, but since most interviews follow a kind of formula, there are a few things you can do to prepare for an interview:

  1. Research the company you’re applying to work at so you know what they value, what they’ve been doing recently, and what they might be looking for in an employee.
  2. Prepare answers to some of the most common interview questions. (This page gives you some common questions and sample answers).
  3. Consider your body language, including how you present yourself and what to wear. (This page has advice on what to wear to an interview for both men and women).

21 Job Interview Tips: Visit this page for more suggestions on how to make a good impression at your interview.

Need more help? Visit the closest CareerLink location for workshops and one-on-one assistance with job searching, resume writing, and more.

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