Adapting and Evaluating During the Job Search

Staying positive, organized, and successful in uncertain times

A woman sitting at a desk looking at a computer with a book in hand.
ITG Illustrations

Key Traits Worth Considering

Patience & Positivity

  1. Celebrating every win, no matter how small — I tell myself to appreciate each task I’ve accomplished. Everything you do in favor of your job search is one small step towards helping you accomplish your goals.
  2. Taking it day-by-day—It can be hard to think like this but I’ve found it to be so critical. Each day is a fresh start. When I’m making my coffee in the morning, I tell myself, “Today is going to be a good day.” Having that positive reassurance from the start makes all the difference.

Organization & Productivity

A promotional image for the Tweek app. It shows a weekly to-do list for September against a light blue background.
Get Tweek: https://tweek.so/

🔥 Tip: Once you download Tweek, pin it as a tab in your browser and refer back to it throughout the day.

Finding Success

Physical & Mental Health

A happy woman running on a treadmill.
ITG Illustrations
  1. Collect my thoughts
  2. Get some fresh air and just breathe
  3. Learn about interesting topics outside of or sometimes related to design

Set Concrete Goals

  1. Write one blog post
  2. Complete one design challenge
  3. Reach out to eight people
  1. Chat with at least one mentor in the field
  2. Attend at least one online event and reach out to speakers and/or attendees afterward
  3. Apply to at least three jobs (this changes weekly, I like to assess how I’ve done in other areas first)

It’s important to limit your weekly goals because you don’t want to get overwhelmed.

Telling Your Story

  • Know your strengths.
  • Be cohesive and consistent when positioning yourself across your resume and portfolio.
  • Tell a coherent story — this is not easy. To help me out with this, I’ve been reading Ellen Lupton’s, Design is Storytelling book. Two methods I’ve found helpful so far for telling my story are the Narrative Arc and the Hero’s Journey.
  • Tie in your previous roles when applying to jobs and setting up your resume—the skills you’ve gained in them are useful, even if you’re a career switcher. Think critically here.
  • Think of ways to stand out across your job materials—if 100 people can say the same thing, you’re not standing out.
  • Have someone who has been in the field you’re in look over your resume. This has helped me so much. Sometimes, the way you frame yourself on your resume can hinder success. Know how to talk about your positions during an interview (also not an easy thing and something I struggle with).

Emphasize Quality & Be Strategic

🔥 Tip: Try looking at the company’s press releases to find the email format.

Your primary goal should be to develop a relationship with each contact. You never know how they may be able to help you in the future.

Four individuals happily discussing a topic and/or possibly meeting each other for the first time.
ITG Illustrations

--

--

Product designer at Gusto — celinefucci.com

Get the Medium app

A button that says 'Download on the App Store', and if clicked it will lead you to the iOS App store
A button that says 'Get it on, Google Play', and if clicked it will lead you to the Google Play store