Using Craigslist To Find Work In College

Ever heard of Craigslist? Of course you have. Craigslist is a fantastically free classifieds site that you can look to for all sorts of things. You may only use Craigslist to sell old calculators and books from your online courses, but you could also use it to find a job. There is a whole section of Craigslist devoted to jobs and gigs in your area. You just have to know how to use it. Here is a basic guide to finding and applying to jobs on Craigslist.

Step 1 – Finding Jobs on Craigslist When you go to the Craigslist homepage, you may have to select your city to actually see the classifieds in your area. Craigslist may send you to your city’s page automatically, so you’ll just have to see what happens when you go there. Once you see the page for your city though, you should see a section labeled as “jobs” and another section labeled as “gigs. ” You can find jobs in both of these. The jobs section is the place where you can find consistent work, and the gigs section is supposed to be for employers needing quick help with a project of some sort. However, businesses have to pay money to post work in the jobs section, so some of them get around that by posting in gigs. That’s why it’s always important to look in both areas to know what all your options are. You can look at specific categories for jobs, or you can just look at whatever is available in your area. You will see a long list of job postings by date, and you can narrow the search by using the search bar at the top of the page. If you live in a huge city, it may be in your best interest to do that.

Step 2 – Picking Jobs to Apply to I usually only apply to jobs that are less than a week old because most people have filled their positions after that. You can look into whatever jobs you want, but you might be wasting your time if you go further back than seven days. All you’ll see on the initial page is a list of basic job titles, but you can click into them to read descriptions about the jobs. Read over the descriptions thoroughly to see what the job requirements are, what the pay rate may be, what the work load should be, etc. Then you can gather links to a bunch of postings that you think fit your needs.

Step 3 – Filling out Applications Once you know which jobs you want to apply to, you will need to either send in a resume through email or use the contact information in the posting to get an application to fill out. Every posting is a little different, so you will just have to see what each job needs. If there is no contact information whatsoever in the posting, you can use the email address under the title that says “Reply to: …” Just paste that into the address bar for a regular email and go from there. The email address may look a little funny, but that is because some employers opt to hide their email addresses when they put up a job. Your email will be redirected to the actual email address for the business. When you send out that email, try to put a title that indicates you’re applying for a job.

I usually title mine “Application: Job Posting Title. ” That way they know what my intentions are. In the body of the email, put a cover letter explaining why you might be good for the job. Then attach a copy of your resume, along with work samples if applicable. Sign the email with your contact information and send it on its way. Hopefully at that point, you’ve done enough to get a call or email back. Only time will tell, but now you know what to do with Craigslist to potentially gain employment. You can search for jobs every day if you want, especially since it’s free. It can’t hurt to look around.