Tips for Using Indeed.com to Search for a Job

In North America, Indeed.com is one of the leading employment-related websites that is frequented by millions looking for their next career opportunity. Whether you are a fresh graduate raring to enter the workforce or a seasoned veteran looking for more senior positions, Indeed.com can be a valuable tool in helping you achieve your career objectives.

However, given the vastness of the website and the sheer volume of jobs that are posted there on a daily basis, it can sometimes be overwhelming to navigate the site as a job search beginner. This guide aims to alleviate exactly that problem through these 6 easy tips. Integrating these pearls of wisdom into your job search will provide you with a major boost when it comes to harnessing and optimizing the website’s in-built tools and features for your job search.

Quote Unquote

At its core, Indeed.com is a search engine just like Google. That means that the same methods that you use to narrow down your search in Google can be applied here as well. Perhaps the most notable one is also the most basic one: the use of quotation marks. For example, simply writing finance analyst in the search bar will return results that include the words “finance” and “analyst” at any point of the job description. However, this can be tailored to your advantage. By putting the two words in quotations i.e. “finance analyst”, you will now receive only those jobs that have the two words in consecutive order within the job title or the job description.

Filter by Title

While the previous step represented a rudimentary use of the search engine logic, this one can provide you with even more refined results. In a lot of cases, job seekers have a good idea of the opportunities that are available to them given their education credentials and/or employment background. If this is the case, then they often frequent websites like Indeed.com to check whether there are currently any of these open opportunities. To save time, job seekers can write “title:” before typing in the job title they are looking for. For example, if a person is looking for sales finance analyst jobs, he/she can type in “title: sales finance analyst”. The algorithm will then return only those jobs that have “sales finance analyst” within the job title.

Say What?

Job seekers always have a dream job (or jobs!) that usually entails a specific position within a specific company. However, bookmarking these companies’ individual career pages on the browser can be time-consuming and often ineffective. Instead, Indeed.com allows applicants to search directly for these specific positions at specific employers. To do this, enter the following query: What – “title name”“company name”. This is better illustrated through an example. For instance, if you want to view finance analyst jobs at Microsoft Inc., the query would be: What –”finance analyst”“Microsoft”.

Alerts

The job market can be both seasonal and cyclical depending on what type of jobs you are looking for. This means that right when you begin looking for a job, there may not be that exact job advertised. That’s not a reason to be discouraged however. Indeed.com allows you to create search alerts that will send you an email whenever a job posting matching your parameters has been posted by an employer. This can ensure that you are never late to apply to a posting. Of course, these alerts are always customizable, so if you find that you are not getting enough volume after a few days, you can go in and re-configure the filters to cast a wider net.

Company Reviews

Before walking into an interview, you would ideally want to have a good idea of what type of work culture the company fosters, what type of pay you would expect to receive, and other such questions that would impact your day-to-day happiness at the firm. However, this can often be tough for companies that are not so widely covered by the media or do not have established, detailed websites. In this scenario, Indeed.com’s “Company Reviews” section can be a wonderful source of help. By typing in the company name, users can then assess salary ranges for their particular job posting, ask and answer questions that other users have about the company, and check on the open job postings currently available at that company. These factors can enable you to have more informed salary negotiations and help set the expectations for the type of culture and environment that you would be joining.

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search filter enables you to filter for positions based on company name, salary ranges, job type, location etc. This is a powerful tool for helping you select only the jobs that fit you level of seniority, international job search, geographical preference and other such factors that are individually important to you.

Remove the Unwanted

Every job has its fair share of tedious tasks. However, if you feel particularly strongly about not having to do a certain aspect of a job, then you can include this in the Advanced Search filter too. Under the section “with none of these words”, you can add a list of things that you do not want a job description to contain. For example, as a finance analyst, you do not have a CPA, you can write “CPA” in the “none of these words” section, which would then remove all job descriptions which require the candidate to possess a CPA.

Summary

Overall, Indeed.com is a fantastic resource that can catalyze your employment search. However, like every search engine, it is only as good as the queries that you ask it to run. It is also pertinent to remember that while the resume drop function offered by Indeed should certainly be exploited, it is by no means a guarantee that employers will reach out to you for prospective job offers. Because of the low effort required for it, there are thousands of candidates who will also be doing the same, making it harder for you to stand out. But by making use of these tips, you are well-placed to utilize it to its maximum value.

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Kayla Idayi

Kayla Idayi is an exceptional freelance writer with a deep love for the written words. She is an experienced web content writer, with articles appearing on sites such as About.com, and e-zines like Underdog Online and Classic Movies Guide. She enjoys doing research and ensures all her articles are both factual and informative.