As a fellow college senior running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I have been searching for the best way to continue the initial job search. Here are a few tips and tricks that I’ve learned along the way. Hopefully, they help you, too!

1. Know what you need.

Some people are finding jobs for several reasons. You need to figure out what you can sacrifice concerning jobs. Can you give up a little bit of pay to work with more pleasant people? Is it all about the money? Do you need to find your best friend at your workplace? What do you need from your work? You need to figure out what you need and want from a job, workplace and management. From there, you need to analyze whether that company will go along with that or not.

2. Ask people you know.

Ask everyone you know several questions about their workplace. Ask what the culture is like. Is there a lot of company interaction with upper management? Does the company do a respectable job with balancing work and life? Does the company encourage community involvement? Does the company support and encourage employees?

3. Do your research & make a list.

Make a master list of what companies are in the running. Include things like geographic location, the open position, starting salary and any contacts that you may have within the organization. Another thing to look at when researching is their mission statements. That short statement is supposed to represent the company, and if you can’t support that, then you may want to look elsewhere. When looking at geographic location, check the tax rates and random laws for vehicles. It would be ideal if you knew someone living in that area.

4. Believe in yourself.

This will make or break you in an interview. Be confident in your abilities. Show the interviewers what you know. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. They’re looking for someone that will be a good fit for their company. If you’re pretending to be someone else and you get the job, you won’t fit in and most likely, people will notice. Be prepared for questions you don’t have answers to. If you don’t know and admit to not knowing, try to follow up with, "That’s a great question. I’ll have to look it up later." This adds the positive spin that you are willing to learn when you don’t know something.

Now, this won’t guarantee you a job but this should make the "looking" phase a lot less painful. If you don’t land that dream job, remind yourself that you are not alone. Hell, I am working for one of my dream companies, and I didn’t get the position I applied for. Don’t compare yourself to your peers. Some may have jobs already lined up and some may be running around. Everyone is on their own path. After all, we are all just trying to adult successfully.