The do’s and don’ts of job hunting

Initial jobless claims ticked up to 229,000 for the week ending on June 1, an increase of 8,000 from the week prior. ZipRecruiter Chief Economist Julia Pollak joins Wealth! to discuss the state of the labor market and her top tips for job hunting.

“This is a labor market that is actually consistent with non-inflationary growth. The quits rate is perfectly consistent with 2% inflation. The labor market tightness has returned to what it was before the pandemic, as measured by the number of openings per job seeker. So the labor market is no longer really a source of major concern,” Pollak explains. She adds that this current environment could signal an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve this year.

As the job market stabilizes, Pollak’s biggest tip for job searchers “is to use a really, really simple template. So your resume should read from top to bottom, from left to right. No tables, no columns, nothing fancy, no fancy formatting.” She also emphasizes the importance of tailoring resumes to the job posting to show the most relevant skills and experience to the position.

For college graduates, Pollak notes that there are slightly fewer job openings and more applicants per posting. “Don’t just get discouraged if you get rejected a couple of times. Stay with it. Understand there’s a numbers game here,” Pollak says, adding that students should start their job search early to determine which skills employers seek and tailor their courses to attain them. She also notes the importance of internships and practical experience before entering the job market post-graduation.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Melanie Riehl

Video Transcript

It’s been a very busy week for Wall Street.

New data out on jolts and AD P revealed the hot job market starting to cool a bit here.

Just today.

We also saw the number of people filing for unemployment benefits or initial jobless claims tick up to 229,000 for the week ending June 1st.

That’s an increase of 8000 from the week prior.

And with the labor market showing some signs of stagnation, we want to help viewers land the role that they want.

And here to weigh in, we’ve got Julia Pollock who is the zip recruiter, chief economist.

Great to have you here in studio with us.

Thank you very much, Brad.

Absolutely.

So, one of the huge things that we’re tracking here is of course, some of the moderation in the labor market and there’s naturally the thought of what this means for the FED, how they might evaluate this.

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What does that look like from the economists perspective?

So this is a labor market that is actually consistent with non inflationary growth.

The quits rate is perfectly consistent with 2% inflation.

Labor market tightness is returned to what it was before the pandemic is measured by the number of openings per job seekers.

So the labor market is no longer really a, a source of major concern and it, it suggests that perhaps a, a rate cut may be on the cards this year after all.

It’s interesting and especially coming into the set up for Friday where we’ll get the monthly jobs report and, and non farm payrolls from the data that we’ve seen come through so far this week.

What is that signal we could be due for in that report?

Sure.

So, you know, the data is actually mixed.

There are lots of signs that hiring is slowing, but this has been a very gradual, orderly cool down.

And I’m actually expecting that Friday’s report could be well above consensus in our marketplace on zip recruiter.

We’ve seen job posting stabilize this year and actually start ticking up again.

We’re seeing quite a lot of demand.

OK.

So with all of this in mind, you’ve got a lot of potential job seekers, job fillers out there.

People who are looking to get back into the labor force trying to figure out how they can beat the bots, how they can make sure that their resume that cover letter that they spend so much time working on with chat G BT that it actually gets through to the hiring manager and they can get an interview.

What are some of the tips that you would have that the most important thing is to use a really, really simple template.

So your resume should read from top to bottom, from left to right.

No tables, no columns, nothing fancy, no fancy formatting.

Simple, keep it straight and simple.

Stupid.

Uh That’s tip number one, uh two.

It is a good idea to tailor your resume to the job, you know, don’t copy and paste the entire job posting and stick it in there in white, which some people were trying to do to game the system.

But uh definitely, uh you know, put your best foot forward and show that you’ve studied the company, you figured out what they’re all about.

Uh and, and, you know, list the most relevant skills and experience.

What about for fresh college grads?

You got a lot of people that just cross the stage, they, they turn the tassel and now they’re trying to figure out, ok, where, where does the money reside?

Where can I get a job at this juncture?

So how can they go into the workforce even if they don’t have, you know, some of the applicable experience and they’re going up against a lot of other people that are just graduating too.

They are.

So one thing to know is that it has become more competitive over the past year.

There are slightly fewer openings and there are actually more applicants per posting.

So that means you, you know, you don’t, don’t just get discouraged if you get rejected a couple of times.

Stay with it.

Understand, there’s a numbers game here apply to enough jobs, apply consistently to several jobs every day.

Uh, because there are new jobs being posted all the time.

Oh, you know where to look.

Well, you know, one issue is your major really matters.

Uh, the return on investment on different college majors can range from less than $50,000 to over $500,000.

And so it is important that you study what people need, the skills that employers are actually looking for if you graduate and realize suddenly, oh boy, um you know, II, I studied biology.

I want something in health care, but all the jobs require something more further study in that field.

Uh It may not be a good idea to settle for a low paying job.

Now that doesn’t use your skills and experience and to put your job search on hold and actually find uh more studying opportunities to get the credentials, credentials.

You need to land a good job.

We’re, we’re talking about something really large there in terms of how cost of living, how some of the expenses, especially when you come straight out of college and are trying to best position yourself, finance to, to build wealth over time.

How that might also have a role in changing people’s majors that they choose even when they go into our midway through college.

Are we seeing a dramatic shift there?

So, I mean, ideally students should start their job search before they choose their course of study.

Right.

They should be looking at job postings often.

They should figure out which skills and credentials employers want and then they should tailor their studies so that they get the skills that they need and they graduate ready for the job market.

The other thing that makes a huge difference is getting internships and getting some kind of practical experience ahead of time.

Employers are a bit suspicious of the value of a college degree these days because sat scores have been doing this and high school graduation rates and college graduation rates have been doing that.

And so uh what they really want to know about is your real life work experience, get internships, get apprenticeships, freelance, do whatever you can to be in the real world, dealing with real world challenges so that you can talk about how you solve them.

These great tips, Julia Pollock, who is the zip recruiter, chief economist joining us here on set all the way from the west coast.

Thanks so much.

Thank you very much, Brad.