need help finding a job? start here

by Alison Green on May 8, 2024

Here’s a round-up of some of the most key job-searching advice on this site.

Resumes and Cover Letters

The first thing to know is, if you’re not getting interviews, you probably need to fix your resume and cover letter.

If you’re thinking your materials are fine, I’ve got to tell you: More often than not, when people who are struggling to get interviews tell me they’re confident about their resume and cover letters and I ask to review them, nearly always they are the problem. Whoever told them they were fine didn’t have the experience or insight to know what makes a really great resume or letter. So these job-seekers have been continuing to apply with mediocre materials and can’t figure out why they’re not getting interviews.

This is very likely to be true for you as well if (1) your resume mostly lists your job duties rather than talking about the outcomes you achieved at each job, and/or (2) your cover letter basically summarizes the information in your resume rather than adding anything new to it.

Read these:

Resumes

Cover letters

Examples of good cover letters from real life

  • example #1: showing how to make a strong case for yourself without just repeating your resume
  • example #2: how to talk about what differentiates you
  • example #3: from someone without a lot of experience
  • example #4: showing how to share things that wouldn’t be clear from your resume alone
  • example #5: how to go shorter and still be compelling
  • example #6: how to talk in a more conversational way that fleshes out what you’re all about professionally
  • example #7: just a really good cover letter
  • example #8: with before and after versions
  • example #9: also with before and after versions

Interviews

More

If you want more detailed guidance, there’s much more in my e-book, How To Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager, where I give you step-by-step help through every stage of your job search, explaining at each step what a hiring manager is thinking and what they want to see from you. Learn more here.
how to get a job

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{ 85 comments }

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  1. A bit too much for me*

    When I read about how one should write a resume, I just get discouraged and decide that my job is just fine. I find it overwhelming to try to put a resume in the correct format.

    1. goofBall*

      Honestly, ChatGPT and resume templates are great for this. They shouldn’t be relied on for the final product of course, but they get some structure in place and take some burden off. I find it easier to start with something, even if I end up rewriting/reformatting all of it, than starting with nothing at all.

    2. JSC*

      I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing! If you see the work involved in a job search and think “eh, I’m fine,” that can be a good gut check. In my worst jobs, I’ve felt *compelled* to take on a job search no matter how overwhelming it is. In my better jobs, sometimes moments of stress make me think about job searching, but then thinking about the stress of job searching puts that back in perspective.

      That being said if you are feeling stuck in a bad job but are having trouble getting over that hump, sometimes a job coach or a friend-who-is-also-job-hunting can help.

    3. Managing While Female*

      Same – but not just the resume. All the work that goes into finding a new job just seems overwhelming. I spent a lot of time NEEDING to job search, so now that I’m in a position where I don’t exactly NEED to, it’s hard to get up the motivation to do so even if I could earn more money, etc. somewhere else.

  2. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

    My issue is less how to put together a resume/cover letter, and more just where the hell to start looking. There are so many job sites out there now, and despite that, so many places that just post their jobs to their company webpages that it seems overwhelming to know where to start. And then there are industry-specific places that are harder to find if you’re new to the industry, etc. Top it off with knowing there are scam ads on some of the larger job sites, and it’s like sensory overload. It feels like so much that it’s easier to just stay where I am–even if I know that’s not the right approach to take.

    1. I should really pick a name*

      I usually start with companies that I’m already aware of and interested in before moving to job sites.

      And staying where you are can be the right approach if it works for you.

      1. Knittercubed*

        Yes to company specific sites. My last employer was a national player but the only way to access openings was through their HR site. They did zero external searching. I used to tell people who were interested….bookmark the site and check it often.

    2. Resident Catholicville, U.S.A.*

      1) General life tip: Adblocker Ultimate is your friend. Install it on your browser (Privacy Badger, too, if you’re so inclined). They won’t block everything- but they’ll block A LOT.

      2) Start with the big sites (Indeed, Linkedin, Craigslist, etc) to see what’s out there. Then, secondarily, start looking at the specific organization sites for places you’d like to work. I have a running bookmark list of places that meet criteria (industry, location, etc) that I’d like to work at. When job hunting, I’d check their individual websites once a week. Follow places you’d like to work at on Facebook, too, if you want to see if they’re hiring. (I use Feeds to sort my Facebook chronologically- I don’t know how people use it otherwise.)

      3) The people asking about resume formats: go find a template and use that to make an omnibus resume- put all relevant info to your jobs on it (title, salary, duties, accomplishments, starting and ending salaries, managers and their contact info) and then update it as you get new jobs/duties/etc. Eventually, you can just pare that down as needed when job hunting. I’m still using the same omnibus and template I made in 2008 when I started looking for office jobs and I’ve just adapted it over the years. (I’ve also taken suggestions from interviewers who were confused by things and modified it.) No ChatGPT necessary- you’d be plugging all the info into the AI anyway, so just find an existing template and go.

    3. Ace in the Hole*

      This is one of the (many!) reasons I prefer public sector. One web portal for all federal government jobs, one for all state level jobs, and in my area I just check the city/county website if I’m interested in local gov.

      Nothing is a scam, there’s a standardized format for job postings, and clear rules about what certain things mean (e.g. if it says a qualification is “required” that means you MUST have it so don’t bother applying if you don’t, if it says “preferred” or “desired” that means “it’d be nice to have so highlight it in your application if you have it but still apply even if you don’t”). The application process can be a bit stiff and awkward feeling if you’re used to private sector, but I think the level of structure is awesome for setting consistent expectations.

    4. Glazed Donut*

      I totally get where you’re coming from. Aside from the big sites, some of these smaller sites (focused on remote-only, for example) seem a bit scammy.

      What I’ve done is create a bookmark folder of the Careers/Employment pages of the places where I’d like to work, and then I open a new window with all these tabs to review what new jobs have been posted. It helps with the overload and I can close each tab if there’s nothing new for me there. Because I’ve essentially pre-screened the companies, it helps with the fatigue of seeing a post on an aggregate site and having to figure out more info about the company before considering applying.

    5. Chirpy*

      Same, I start looking at listings, can’t find anything in the (multiple) fields I’m interested in, and just get overwhelmed trying to dig for anything I might possibly be qualified for.

    6. Caramel & Cheddar*

      A couple of things I would add that haven’t been mentioned above:

      1) If you’re part of any kind of professional association, check to see if they have a place on their website where they post jobs from member organizations, etc.

      2) Some job sectors have sector-specific job boards. For Arts and Culture, Canada has “Work In Culture” and there’s at least one in the UK but I’m blanking on the name. I’m sure the US has them too.

      1. Seamyst*

        Yes, this! Also check out email listservs for your profession/industry. I’m in research administration and half the posts on our main listserv are job listings, everything from literal-entry-level up to senior-vp-for-research.

    7. Polyhymnia O’Keefe*

      I’ve also had good luck with industry-specific job boards. I work in the performing arts, and my area has a couple of service organizations for the region that provide a job board as part of their work in the sector. Job listings there tend to be vetted and more tailored, and it’s easier to bypass the ones that aren’t specific to me (in my case, things like part-time contracts for music teachers or things like that).

  3. Sloanicota*

    I definitely needed this today. I have a terrible time listing accomplishments on my resume. I work in a collaborative field and feel like everything I accomplished at every job was a team effort and hence just end up listing my responsibilities.

  4. WhoKnows*

    What do you suggest someone do on their resume if they don’t have a job where results can be measured in that way? I work in comms and we don’t have systems in place to measure data for things we do.

    1. Hydrangea*

      Can you report on metrics like an increase in employee engagement in specific ways – at internal events, joining committees, reading newsletters? Or the success of change management initiatives? I’ve reported on things like an increase in user adoption of new platforms after a big internal campaign or expanding the company’s intranet communities.

      If you can measure the success of “mixternal” activities, that can help too.

    3. Caramel & Cheddar*

      Can you quantify the work, even if the outcomes aren’t measured? i.e. “Created communications strategies for 43 product roll-outs, including both web and print media” or whatever.

    4. Garblesnark*

      Did anyone ever compliment you on your work? Many compliments are resume-worthy.

      Does comms not involve anything countable? Do you not communicate with a number of people, across a number of tools, or send out a number of communications? Do you not do things across an amount of time?

  5. Zona the Great*

    I got so sick of writing cover letters that one day I sat down and wrote the most unhinged cover letter on record. It has never failed to not only get me interviews but it also elicits squeals of delight from HR and hiring managers. It’s my opus.

    1. Raia*

      The amount that I want to do this now is 1000% thanks to you, will be doing this on my next townhall

  6. Multimedia Designer in search of a job*

    I get conflicting advice on resumes for graphic designers. Should they be “designed” or not? Not so much that the form overwhelms the function, of course, but moreso than the standard Word template?

    1. goofBall*

      UX designer here – If you’re defining “designed” by including colors, infographics, and illustrations/icons/photos, then no. Absolutely not.

      But I also don’t think standard Word template is the right way to go either. My resume uses a two column layout (contact and skills on the left, wider column for experience and education on the right). I’ve opted for a non-standard, but very readable and modern, sans-serif typeface that is off-black against plain white background.

      As designers, our job is to make something inviting to look at. “Designed” resumes are not inviting to look at in the context of job seeking, but using an template that is obviously a template cheapens what we as designers value.

      1. Multimedia Designer in search of a job*

        I heard to avoid a 2-column resume because they don’t play well with ATS systems.

        1. goofBall*

          I’ve never had a problem, but I tend to work more with recruiters.

          Could you have two? One that plays nicely with ATS and one that is more human-friendly? They would both have the same content, just different layouts. And you could link the human-friendly one on your online portfolio.

        2. Jam on Toast*

          It depends on how the columns and text are identified (or styled) within the underlying document structure. If the underlying tags don’t show the reading and heading order within the document, then the ATS will default to a left to right, top to bottom reading structure.

          That’s because ATS rely on the same basic technology as screen readers. I like to describe screenreaders like bulldozers. They don’t evaluate *what* they’re pushing, they just start at one side of the dirt pile and push til they reach the other side. As the document creator, it’s up to us to say ‘push this pile first and then this pile next and this pile last” and to tell it, using machine-readable tags or styles, what each pile is made of: “this is a pile of rocks,” “this is a pile of sand” etc. Before you submit a resume, using the accessibility checker tools that are now part of most softwares *should* show you how a machine would ‘read’ your document. Accessibility checkers aren’t perfect, but they generally identify major issues like reading order and allow you to fix them before you submit, increasing the odds that the ATS will be better able to parse your resume correctly.

          1. Multimedia Designer in search of a job*

            That is really helpful — accessibility in design is one of my specialities.

    2. Garblesnark*

      Do you have a portfolio?

      If you’re applying somewhere big enough to have a recruiting team with a sourcer or recruiting operations coordinator, the person who first sees your resume doesn’t really know whether your resume has solid graphic design concepts demonstrated throughout it beyond determining that it is or isn’t very easy to read. You have to get through that first person before you can meet with the person who understands the importance of your graphic design skills.

    3. I hire designers*

      On my experience as a hiring manager: no.

      Your portfolio is where you demonstrate your design skills.

      1. Multimedia Designer in search of a job*

        Thank you! It’s great to hear from people who are doing the hiring!

  7. Dr. Doll*

    Are there hiring managers other than myself who prefers to see job duties rather than outcomes? Yes, list some outcomes if you like, but I want to see the duties FIRST and in more detail.

    1. IL JimP*

      Guess if they are applying for roles outside of what they did before a small summary is helpful but usually I can figure out what the general idea of what they did based on their outcomes and title but YMMV

    2. Raia*

      I always have one bullet for each job that lists my duties, but other than that listing accomplishments is the primary way for me to show growth and being a valued asset before an interview. I can’t leave those off.

    3. Garblesnark*

      I think it depends on whether it’s a job title that clearly indicates the duties.

      Virtually every cashier operates a point of sale system, interacts with customers, and handles money. It is not helpful to me for resume space to be used specifying that a former cashier did those tasks. Bookkeepers tend to enter expenses and use software like Quickbooks.

      Other job titles can mean an incredible number of things. I’ve seen office managers in virtually every aspect of the business, so job duties could be really helpful on their resumes. Some companies will just use the job title “manager” to mean managers of all sorts of things, sometimes not even including people management. I once saw a resume a where the job title was “worker” for someone who managed a team of half a dozen people and hundred thousand dollar annual budget. In those cases, yes, probably mention the responsibilities.

    4. Glazed Donut*

      I’ve thought about this from both sides of the process!

      When I’m reviewing resumes, if I don’t know what your title means, then I can’t really contextualize the accomplishments. (Don’t get me started on acronyms that are unclear either.)

      From a job seeker standpoint, I do want to ensure that my job function is clear aside from accomplishments, so I struggle to balance the two on my resume. My last role was brand new in the region so a lot of people don’t know the title OR scope of work for it. Applying to jobs in a lot of different areas in my field means that the person reviewing could be familiar or could have no clue that it means. It’s hard to know what others may know.

    5. Ashley*

      On my own CV, I use the accomplishments as a way of listing my job duties. As a hiring manager, I find I don’t care much how they’re listed. The bigger issue I run into is the resume just not having enough information about each job generally (not duties or accomplishments).

  8. Akya*

    Does anyone have any ressources on Researcher type resumes ?

    Since they’re not like traditional 2 pagers (mine is actually like 6 pages long) since you have to include all the papers you’ve written and grants. But other than asking my thesis director and other professors, I’ve not really found ressources for that type of resume.

    1. Scout*

      To me it sounds like you might have more luck looking at CVs? Those are meant to showcase things like research, educational achievements, etc.

      1. Akya*

        Ohhh thank you, I thought Resume and CV were the same thing haha, in french we use Curriculum Vitae for Resume, so CV in short. No wonder I got confused ^^

    2. Glazed Donut*

      +1 for looking at CVs. In my experience, universities will list professors’ CVs on their faculty websites, so you can see a few different ways to put it – I like seeing the range from junior/younger to older to see how the lists and explanations may change over time.

    3. Jam on Toast*

      Karen Kelsky’s The Professor is In website has *excellent* resources for academic job documents. She’s written a book, offers 1-on-1 hiring document consults and maintains a very active posting schedule online. She is the AAM of Higher Ed.

  9. pally*

    For job descriptions, stress accomplishments over duties. Got it.
    So how much job description should one give?

    I’m in an industry with rather generic job titles (such as Quality Manager, Quality Supervisor, Quality Engineer, etc.) that don’t begin to describe the role. Does “Quality” mean Quality Assurance or Quality Control? And the tasks blur too- I’m doing quite a bit of regulatory stuff -in addition to Quality stuff.

    To further obfuscate things, I’m actually a manager of an entire department. So says my title. But no reports to manage. So I’m not really a manager-right?

    1. Garblesnark*

      OK so for your job title, just list what your company says. If you find it’s extremely confusing, put what you think it more clear in parentheses after it.

      For your bullet points about what you did, pick and choose based on what the job description says they need.

    2. ecnaseener*

      I’d say include any duties that 1) you don’t expect the hiring manager to automatically know are included in your job and 2) are relevant to the job you’re applying for. That should still leave space for your accomplishments.

      And in some cases the accomplishments/qualitative points can be folded into the duties — my resume has “coordinate llama grooming for multiple zoos with a combined total of 500 llamas” type thing.

  10. FormerIntern*

    Does anyone have any good resources on federal government resumes? I’ve heard advice from “include everything, including the fact that you know how to use a printer” to “keep it comprehensive but high level” to “follow traditional corporate resume advice.”

    1. TX_Trucker*

      My fed experience is a few years old. But when I worked for them, my advice is 2 different resume versions. A typical 1-2 page corporate resume, and a ridiculously detailed long resume created on USAjobs dot gov. Some agencies accept both types and some only want one version. But if a federal agency only wants the USAjobs version, they probably want more detail.

    2. Hlao-roo*

      Here’s a small round-up of past comments about US Federal Government resumes:

      https://www.askamanager.org/2015/04/stop-putting-your-salary-history-on-your-resume.html

      https://www.askamanager.org/2015/04/stop-putting-your-salary-history-on-your-resume.html#comment-727201

      https://www.askamanager.org/2014/09/yes-government-interviews-suck-but-heres-how-you-can-do-well-in-them-anyway.html#comment-568210

      https://www.askamanager.org/2014/09/yes-government-interviews-suck-but-heres-how-you-can-do-well-in-them-anyway.html#comment-568147

      (Most of these are links to specific comments, so they’ll only work correctly if you have the site set to “expand all comments” as default. If you have “collapse all comments” as default, it’ll just show you a random spot on the post.)

  11. ExTeacher*

    I’ve heard the advice about writing about accomplishments not duties from multiple sources and I’m sure it’s good. But one of the reasons I’ve had a hard time taking it is that I fear that hiring managers must be skeptical when they read a glowing list of accomplishments written by the person themselves. Aren’t they? Quite a few people do lie or exaggerate on their resumes. How does a manager sort through real accomplishments versus BS when deciding who to extend an interview to?

    1. Red Lines with Whine*

      That’s what the interview is for. In my field, a portfolio helps weed out those who talk a good game. If my spidey sense tingles, I use the interview to confirm. But most hiring managers are going to assume you are telling the truth, even if some things are a little “fluffier” than the actual truth. It’s your job to test for aptitude and character beyond what the resume states.

    2. Garblesnark*

      If your resume says “personally rescued ten million children from poverty with no help,” yeah, that’ll raise an eyebrow. But resumes are supposed to be the list of the most glowingest things you did. It’s OK for it to glow.

  12. SunriseRuby*

    Has Alison ever addressed the particular challenges people over the age of 50 – particularly women – face when they’re looking for jobs? I know she’s addressed ageism in the workplace, but I can’t recall any letters requesting advice for job hunters past 50, and there isn’t a category for it. I think it would be a very useful sub-category under job searching.

    1. Hendry*

      That’s a good point. Not sure if from this site, but the general advice for resumes I’ve seen is to not list all your jobs back to the 90s for example, not to put your college graduation date, etc.

      1. SunriseRuby*

        I have seen that advice here, and it’s been helpful to know that, but I would really appreciate seeing Alison address the problems that 50+ job seekers have more deeply than that, in greater detail.

        1. AnnewithanE*

          I would also really love to see advice in this area! I already leave off all college dates, but working at one job for over 23 years pretty much gives away my age regardless.

    2. Luca*

      In this vein, I’d also like to hear suggestions for older/near-retirement people who want to move into a different field in their next job. Maybe they want a change, or maybe they want lower stress particularly if the retirement finish line is within sight but still out of reach.

      2. Hlao-roo*

        Not specific to older/near-retirement people, but there have been a few past “ask the readers” questions about career changes and/or changing to a less stressful career. Maybe some of the comments on these posts will have helpful suggestions:

        https://www.askamanager.org/2022/03/my-ambitious-driven-self-is-gone.html

        https://www.askamanager.org/2020/05/lets-talk-about-mid-life-career-changes.html

        https://www.askamanager.org/2020/11/how-do-i-change-careers.html

        https://www.askamanager.org/2022/09/how-do-you-move-away-from-ambition-and-traditional-career-paths.html

    3. Hydrangea*

      Love this. Especially since it’s very easy for screening systems to access third-party data, which will immediately announce your age. Resume tricks and looking young don’t mean much when we have AI tools that can automatically connect significant background information to your application.

      1. MsSolo (UK)*

        I do wonder how much Ai is actually being used in recruitment. There’s a lot of start-ups trying to sell tools that can beat the hiring manager on picking the perfect candidate, but whenever you talk to people who’ve actually had to use them it turns out the AI thinks 19 people called Curriculum Vitae have applied for the role and has scraped the web to learn they were all born in 1902.

  13. Chirpy*

    So how do you write outcomes when your current job is retail? I have very little ability to influence anything with my work and am not allowed to come up with new arrangements for stuff or implement new ideas, so the outcomes are things like “kept the shelves as full as possible” and “helped customers find what they were looking for”.

    (I mean, literally, I will cause my whole department to get dinged if I rearrange a shelf so the product actually fits- because the merchandiser used photoshop to create the planogram instead of checking that it physically will fit – because then I’m not following the required plan.)

    Also, I just feel like my resume is super awkward, because my one “good” professional job was 15 years ago, and all my jobs since have been pretty terrible.

    1. Hlao-roo*

      I’m not very familiar with retail, but I think something like “helped customers find what they were looking for” can be re-written to be a bit more accomplishment-oriented. Maybe that bullet point could be:

      – helped an average of 15 customers per day find the product they were looking for
      – helped customers find the product they were looking for in under 2 minutes on average
      – excelled at matching customers with hard-to-find products; consistently praised by customers for finding the correct product

      That last one is probably better for something like a clothing retailer (or something similar where there’s a “fit” between the customer and the product) than a grocery store, and I have no idea if my example numbers make any sense in your context, but hopefully it’s helpful to see a “did task” bullet point become “did task [at great volume/fast/with good quality].”

      1. Chirpy*

        My department is very seasonal, so it ranges from “I never left the same busy aisle for 8 hours, barely got lunch, and had to stay two hours late because there was no break in customers and nobody came to relieve me” to “it is so dead that I’ve run out of dusting”, so customer numbers aren’t a great metric.

        Customer satisfaction is a weird one because it depends on the customer. I’ve gotten both a lot of praise directly for being knowledgeable, but because of what we sell (it can loosely be described as a hardware store, but imagine it’s both very specialized but also a big-box type store) so I also get customers who are very angry that they have to ask a woman and insist I know nothing. Add to that nobody can spell my unusual name, so I rarely get compliments via our customer satisfaction surveys or customer mentions to management. It’s weird.

        Like, there’s just no easy way to quantify that the department would likely go downhill rapidly if I left.

        1. MsSolo (UK)*

          You can quote the nice customers who told you directly they appreciated your help; you don’t have to have something date and timestamped, just make a note for yourself and quote it. Roles that are looking for a lot of soft skills – assistants, receptionists etc – will be looking for evidence you work well with people in difficult situations, and most hiring managers know retail gives you a lot of experience with that! If there are quantifiable tasks, include those, but soft skills are great for behavioural questions, so are worth writing out in a STAR format so you’ve got them to hand for interview stage as well.

          So when I was coming out of retail, if I’d known how to write a decent CV back then, I might have had “helped woman who lost her house in a fire replace her wardrobe while staying within the budget the insurers had provided, and was thanked for my sensitivity” or “due to my knowledge of the stock, when a customer described her perfect prom dress I was able to find a match from stock that hadn’t been put out on the floor yet, and was thanked for making her feel so special.” For the misogynistic customers, you can use that as an example of handling a difficult situation, especially if you’ve got one where they grudgingly admitted that you were more helpful than they expected. “was approached by a frustrated customer looking for [widget]. I defused the situation by sympathising with them, helped them find the widget, and sold them some additional safety gear. The customer left satisfied and more knowledgeable about how to complete their project safely.”

          (for non-retail people – be the R in someone’s STAR! Be detailed with thanks, complete feedback forms, go back and let the employee know if the project/outfit/meal they helped you find items for worked out. If an assistant helps you find a suit for an interview, if you get the job tell them!)

          1. Chirpy*

            Thanks. Also, to your last point: most retail/service surveys these days only count the top score as any good. If it’s a scale from 1-5, with 5 being excellent, getting a 4 or less is treated like a horrible failure and can count against the employees, even if their service was perfectly fine. This also means a single negative review from a customer having a bad day can tank the score even if the rest of the scores are “average” to “good”.

  14. WellRed*

    I need to job search but I’ve been in my current one for nearly 20 years. The stuff before that is too old and not really relevant. It’s hard to get started on that resume. And of course, I have one of those jobs that’s hard to quantify accomplishments.

  15. Anon in Canada*

    Alison provides great advice, but I would really like to see her finally acknowledge that cover letters aren’t universal in job applications. Many employers have phased them out, i.e. their ATS doesn’t accept a cover letter to start with. Any advice that says “say X in your cover letter” should come with a caveat of what to do if the ATS doesn’t accept a cover letter.

    My industry has 5 main companies, and 4/5 don’t accept cover letters at all.

    1. fhqwhgads*

      The thing is the advice is there for people who struggle with cover letters. If you’re in a field where cover letters are uncommon or nonexistent, then the cover letter is advice is not for you. You can’t help your prospects with a cover letter if you’re not allowed to submit one. You also don’t have to stress about how to do one. So you skip it and move on.

    2. Николи*

      Everywhere I’ve seen that doesn’t accept a cover letter has an application form that includes a personal statement or similar – this should be more detailed than a cover letter, but anything that you would need to put in a cover letter will normally be appropriate for this.

  16. Overload*

    Literally perfect timing, thank you Allison! I have my resume together but now I have no idea what to do with it. I’m in public accounting/auditing, which is great because everyone needs an accountant, but I am so overwhelmed by the number of jobs. How am I suppose to narrow it down or decide what to do next?

    1. Hlao-roo*

      What part of current/past jobs have you liked? What parts of current/past jobs have you not liked? Take some time and list them out. Are there certain accounting/auditing job titles that tend to have more of the things you like/less of the things you don’t like? If there are, great, apply to those! If tasks don’t correlate very well with job titles, you might have to wade through more job ads but you can compare what the ad is looking for to your like/don’t like list to decide if you want to apply.

  17. Aster*

    Does anyone else here have cover letter writing anxiety? I’ve look at the examples here many times but sometimes it’s hard to explain the accomplishments at my previous jobs because they’re not easily quantifiable. I’m in the process of overhauling my cover letter because of it but it still seems tricky.

  18. Hendry*

    Are cover letters typically as lengthy as in the examples provided? You hear about how there are positions that get hundreds of applicants – are people really reading all that?

  19. 1 Non Blonde*

    As someone who landed their current job with this advice, I consider it greatly useful!

    1. Rachel 2: Electric Boogaloo*

      Same here. The interview guide in particular was super useful- it really helped me reframe my thinking and feel much more confident during the interview. I highly recommend it.

  20. I didn't say banana*

    Quite a few comments have complained about how this is too much work or that Alison hasn’t given advice that’s specific to their industry or situation. Can we take a moment to be grateful at this amazing list of resources she has written and compiled, and recognise that not everything online has to perfectly match our industry, demographics, and level of motivation?

  21. Introvert girl*

    Has Allison ever addressed how to spot fake job openings? There are so many job openings that just don’t actually exist. Except for the old ones still hanging around job boards, I can’t seem to tell the difference between fake and real ones.

  22. WorkingRachel*

    So, what’s a good return rate on “getting interviews”? Is it one out of every 3 well-tailored applications? One in 10? One in 30?

    I *think* my application materials are pretty good, but it’s been almost 20 years since I was on the open job market (last few jobs have sort of fallen into my lap), and I’m not sure where the line is between “complete more applications” and “work on your materials” (obviously some working on materials happens with every application, but I mean when I should go back and really rethink them).

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