Sometime along this crazy year (that we will probably never forget 😥), you must have received this message in your inbox at least once: “I lost my job due to COVID, could you please refer me?”. No matter how hard this situation is for all those who found themselves unemployed during this pandemic period, I believe this is not the best way of searching for your next job.
- Asking others for a job is fine but not the best way to get a good job. This approach might get you a job, but it will probably not be the best one for you.
- When you ask someone for a job, the probability is very low that they will actually have a job that fits your exact profile and skill set.
- Don’t waste time requesting everyone blindly for a job 🙈 You are wasting your time and other’s time as well. In most of the cases, you will either not get a reply or will get a polite yet not actionable response: “Sure, I will get back to you” or “Sure, I will forward it.”
What could be a better way of finding a new/better job, rather than blindly asking someone else for a job? 🕵️♂️
- List down all the companies which are in your domain.
- Then, explore the companies career page and check if there is an opening for you.
- If you find any job opening relevant to your profile, then search for people from that company and only then request the referral for that particular job.
- Mention “Open for better opportunity” in your LinkedIn profile and whichever social media profile you can.
- Write blogs, articles and post on what projects you have been working on, share about your skills or write about interesting technologies you’ve acquired.
- Always keep making your own profile & skill set better and better. Check out this great automation testing guide to find new learning paths to boost your testing skills, or explore this pragmatic learning roadmap for more ideas on which fields to improve your knowledge in.
- Write tech blogs/articles on forums related to your field and build your presence & testing reputation there, so that people get to know who you are. Then they might tend to be more inclined to connect with you and offer you a job if they have one that fits your profile.
- Provide answers to the questions of your domain which people are asking in different forums like StackOverflow, LinkedIn groups, etc.
- Attend meetups and conferences & make good connections. Although nowadays most events have been turned to virtual ones, they still offer many opportunities to connect online and meet new people, all while learning from worldwide industry experts. By the way, many companies host these meetups or attend meetups themselves in order to find good talent. Always keep in mind that there is an equal number of people who are looking for the talent at the same time as when you are searching for the job, and they too are struggling and not finding the right fit.
- If you need any help with this, feel free to DM me anytime. I will be more than happy to help you!
I might be wrong at some of these points, but these are just what I have learned from my experience and from many others in our testing field as well. Hope this helps and wish you the best of luck in your search for the perfect job for you! 🙏
Don’t search for the job, let the job search for you! 😉
~ Sanjay Kumar