It’s internship and application season, and with the job market the most competitive it’s been in years, it’s time to get smart with the ways you plan to get ahead in the job search. But how do you overcome those obstacles during the job search?
A recent LinkedIn survey found that half of Gen Z (53%) workers in the U.S. say that looking for a job is frustrating and hard, with almost one-third of Gen Z saying the hardest part of the job search is finding a job that meets their criteria. However, this isn’t a reason to give up — it’s a reason to be more strategic with your job search.
It can be difficult to uncover answers to the main “pain points” in the job search. So if you’re feeling some anxiety around internship and job applications this spring, there are tools and resources you can tap into to better prepare yourself and address some of those pain points. Take LinkedIn’s AI-powered collaborative articles, which feature expert tips (over 10M contributions so far!) from trailblazers like Melinda Gates to Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran, as well as Gen Z thought leaders like Morgan Young and Jade Walters. These articles are packed with a wealth of knowledge and insights that can help you focus on the pain points that are holding you back.
But, beyond that, here are some tips from LinkedIn expert Andrew McCaskill on how to navigate through three pain points of the job search.
Pain Point #1: Feeling Underqualified and Unsure of Your Skills-to-Job Matching
If you’re looking to land your first major internship or post-grad job, it can be easy to read through a long list of responsibilities on a job posting and begin to feel underqualified. In fact, almost half (47%) of Gen Z say they don’t know how to match their skills to jobs. To help with this, begin to think of your skills in terms of a storybook.
So, bring that main character complex into your job search — you are the plot. Each chapter that makes your storybook whole is a different skill or experience that shaped you. Once you begin to view skills in this manner, it’ll make it easier to see the possibilities of what you can accomplish and how you can best demonstrate your qualifications. “For instance, I grew up as a gay, Black man in the South — navigating those identities in and of themselves is a major skill that employers are looking for today,” McCaskill tells Her Campus “That experience taught me about resilience, adaptability, and agency.”
Do you have a diverse background that informs your perspective? Did you become the go-to classmate for making beautiful PowerPoints during group assignments? Think of the specifics of the skills you’ve acquired and then see how they contribute to your overall story. Then, when you’re asked in an interview to identify those skills in action, you’ll have no shortage of examples to share.
For more tips on how to solve this pain point, you can check out the following LinkedIn collaborative articles: “How you can use storytelling to land your dream job,” “You’re preparing for a marketing interview. How can you prove your skills to the interviewer?,” and “How can you best showcase your skills during an interview?”
Pain Point #2: Unsure How to Network or Find a Career Mentor
We all know that having the right connections can seriously set you apart in a competitive job market. LinkedIn data reveals that you are four times more likely to get a job at a company where you already have a connection. “I also know that the term ‘networking’ might make the hairs on your neck stand: how do you know who to reach out to, and what should you even say?” McCaskill says. “Here’s the key: Find your community.”
Networking is, at its core, all about community building. Begin to think of it less as a transactional method of connecting, and more as a way to expand your perspective while connecting with folk who you can relate to. For those of Black, Latino, queer, and diverse backgrounds, this is especially important. “Our communities are the backbones of how we learn, succeed, and grow — so when reaching out to others, try and lead with the commonalities you possess,” McCaskill says.
A perfect LinkedIn InMail message is one that combines both personal and professional tidbits to show who you are, why you’re reaching out, and what you hope to learn from the person you’re connecting with.
Additionally, you’ll now see two new features under the Network tab on LinkedIn: The “Grow” tab and the “Catch Up” tab. The first will help you manage your existing connections and find relevant people to add to your network. And the second is focused on uncovering reasons to, well, catch up with your network! “We’ll let you know when your connections start a new gig, celebrate a work anniversary, announce that they are hiring, or even celebrate a birthday so that you always have a conversation starter when it’s time to reach out,” McCaskill says.
For more tips on how to solve this pain point, you can check out the following LinkedIn collaborative articles: “How Can Mentors Help You Navigate Your Career Path?” and “What Can You Do To Network If You’re Not An Extrovert.”
Pain Point #3: Not Knowing How to Stand Out and Best Showcase Who You Are
We know that standing out is also a big concern for job seekers today: 21% say one of the hardest parts of the job search is making their application stand out from others, and 20% say it’s getting noticed by hiring managers. “Here’s the best tip I can give: Instead of simply comparing yourself to others, focus on your own accomplishments, skills, and achievements that make you unique,” McCaskill shares.
We are all individually unique and special, and what you bring to the table is vastly different from any other candidate. “Your experience and qualities are not lesser than someone else—they’re unique and different — lean into that,” McCaskill says. “The story of you is likely the greatest one you’ll ever tell; part of telling that story is understanding what your strengths are and what you do really well. Do you have an interesting background, passion, or knowledge point?”
Standing out is not about bragging, but more so about authenticity and expressing who you are. So before you can effectively search for a job, you need to figure out what that “why” is for you—and that’ll make the process all the easier.
For more tips on how to solve this pain point, you can check out the following LinkedIn collaborative articles: “You want to stand out to employers on social media. What’s the best way to showcase your personality?” and “You’re job hunting and want to stand out from the crowd. What’s the best way to use social media?”
Andrew McCaskill is a culture analyst, inclusion champion, and marketing executive. He is a LinkedIn Career Expert and author of “The Black Guy in Marketing” newsletter. He’s a PR Week “Top 40 Under 40 PR Executive” and co-author of the award-winning Diverse Intelligence Series on the economic and cultural impact of multicultural consumers. He delivers African American-focused political, cultural, and economic commentary as an on-air contributor to SiriusXM’s 38 million subscribers and is a 2022 Nike Brand Ambassador for DEI activism as part of its Be True LGBTQ in sport campaign. He holds degrees from Morehouse College and Goizueta Business School at Emory University.