Job Searching Guide: General Tips and Starting Job Titles After Graduating
Modern Job searching is based around having the correct search terms to find jobs you are looking for, here's a list and tips to start with
This article is an updating resource for workers and students to utilize and come back to. Please share the free materials within. (last updated 7/7/23)
Two topics I’ve discussed elsewhere: colleges and universities in America do a pitiful job of helping graduating students find work, and modern job searching is primarily driven by searching on job boards, and understanding the proper search terms.
This article and the tips and tools included are designed to help bridge the gap and give graduating seniors or general workers tools to find better job opportunities and feel more empowered by the prospect.
In order to avoid turning this article into a lengthy list of job titles, when giving actual job titles to search for I’ll be linking to various external lists of job titles.
General tips for job searching:
One thing you’ll learn as you go through these articles is that there is a lot of crossover and adaptability between majors! In some scenarios, your major does not actually matter, but having ANY bachelor’s degree can qualify you for meeting job requirements. In other words, the bachelor’s degree doesn’t have to show that you have specific knowledge or skill, it also functions as a class signifier that can get you job interviews and offers.
This means that you can and should apply to many vastly different types of jobs that interest you, even if they don’t “match” your major.
Keep in mind every job application is just sending out a feeler, it doesn’t have to be a perfect match, you just want to talk further and are giving them some info to reach out to you. Think of the application like swiping on a dating app rather than a significant commitment.
Finding a job is all about volume, the more applications the better your odds. Numbers are hard to pin down and range from 50%-90%, but a massive amount of job applications are simply never seen or discarded for a variety of reasons. For that reason, every application sent must have healthy skepticism behind it, and volume of applications sent directly leads to more interviews and possible offers.
Modern job searching on indeed is based on having the right job title or search term to populate results. The job title or keywords you search for are the biggest factor you control in seeing different results or options to apply to. Try many different ones, experiment and see what works.
When you find job titles that seem like a good match, search for that job title again specifically to try to find other opportunities from other companies.
If you find a company that seems like a good match or may have other opportunities, see if that company has their own internal job postings, there can be many opportunities you don’t see on indeed that are on company boards.
Similarly if you start to narrow down or be interested in a specific field, keep searching that field more for other options.
As of 2023, remote jobs are still common in many fields. One way to expand search options is to search your entire state or nationally, and specifically for remote work.
Try a reverse job search, starting with a company you might want to work for, and looking at OTHER companies like them. I found this obscure tool to compare different companies which can be useful for this.
Starting Job Titles By Major:
Business
Indeed list of 120+ options for Business Majors
If you go from the segment of this article titled finance down to sales, you’ll find a list of job titles great for graduating business majors.
Business degrees are wildly broad and their work often does not require licensure. For that reason graduating majors of business fields have the advantage of great versatility and the disadvantage of lack of specific direction, a paralysis from choice. It will be important to eventually narrow down to an area of work over time, or to experiment working in a variety of areas.
Health related programs
Indeed article on 22 health-related job types
When working in healthcare, most graduates will find that many careers require specific state lisensure, which are non-negotiable requirements to work towards. It’s both a benefit and a challenge to graduates of healthcare programs, they tend to have more direction towards a next goal after graduation than their peers, but also find themselves locked out of many jobs until obtaining this licensure.
However, many graduates of programs like public health may not have a direction or goal in licensure. The indeed list for unlicensed healthcare jobs is here
One different and major group work mentioning is graduates of nursing programs, who often graduate with a LPN or are close to it. After getting that license, they can qualify for many jobs, or may want to move forward to a RN or specialize in other areas. The indeed article for nurse related jobs is here
Social Sciences and History
Indeed article on social sciences positions
Indeed article on history positions
Engineering
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Indeed article on biology majors
Psychology
Indeed article on psychology bachelors options
Working in client-facing psychology requires at least a masters degree and state licensure; there’s lesser options for client-facing work, but you will face massive barriers without a license, and a master’s degree is required in all 50 states.
So as you see in the indeed article, many psychology jobs for those with bachelors are not actually mental health work. Many psychology majors that do not proceed to further education work in other fields, it’s a common major used to do other jobs, like management or office work.
Generally all 3 domains of psychology work: treatment, research, or education, all require higher education past a bachelor’s degree, or the ceilings met will prevent significant career development.
Computer and Information Services
Indeed list of Computer Science jobs
Indeed list of Information Science jobs
Visual and Processing Arts
Indeed list of visual arts jobs
Jobs in visual (and performing) arts offer different opportunities and challenges. Stable w-2 employment can be more difficult to find, and a higher percentage of those working in visual arts engage in “gig labor” or find regular per diem jobs. For this reason, a network of working connections can be more important.
Communication and Journalism
Indeed article on Communications jobs
Indeed article on journalism jobs
Education
Indeed article on academic jobs