How to find a job: a complete step by step guide
How to find a job with a method: decide what you want, choose where to look, tailor your CV and track every application to the end. A step-by-step guide.
How to find a job: decide what you want before you apply
Looking for a job with a method is a staged process in which you first decide which role you want, where and on what terms, and only then choose the job offers you apply for. Starting there avoids the most expensive mistake in a job search: sending lots of CVs to offers that don't fit and running out of energy for the ones that do.
Over more than 15 years of recruitment processes, we have supported thousands of people through a career change, and the pattern repeats. People who know what they want write better applications, prepare better for interviews and know when to say no. People who apply for everything end up with a long list of processes they can't quite remember.
Deciding what you want doesn't mean writing "something in my field". It means writing down a few specific preferences that then act as your filter on every job board, in every alert and in every conversation with a recruiter.
The preferences you need to find a job that suits you
To find a job that suits you, you need four clear preferences: which roles you want, where you want to work, in what format and the salary from which you'll consider an offer. They are the same ones we ask for in the CompassHub form, because they decide whether a job offer deserves your time.
- Roles: two or three job titles at most, using the names employers use in their adverts. "Purchasing manager" and "head of procurement" are often the same job under a different title.
- Location: specific cities or provinces, and how far you're willing to commute each day.
- Format: on-site, hybrid or remote. If you accept remote work, which countries you'd accept an employer from.
- Salary: the figure from which you'll consider an offer. It isn't what you'll ask for; it's your floor.
Write them down and review them every few weeks. If almost nothing that meets all four turns up in a month, the problem isn't your CV: one of your preferences is too narrow and it's worth opening it up a little.
With these four preferences you can already pre-register with CompassHub: we'll be with you throughout your search and, when the app launches, you'll only see the offers that match them, with your applications on one board and a coach by your side.
Where to look for a job, and how to choose
Where to look for a job depends on the role you want: trades and operational roles are advertised mainly on job boards, qualified profiles also move through LinkedIn and direct contact, and almost any search benefits from checking the careers pages of the companies you're interested in. The rule is to go where your kind of job is advertised, not everywhere.
Each channel works differently. The table compares them on the same attributes so you can pick two or three and work them properly, instead of opening ten and keeping up with none.
| Channel | What you'll find | What it does well | What it lacks | When it suits you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job boards (InfoJobs, Indeed) | Offers posted by employers | Volume and alerts by role and area | Heavy competition for each offer | Trades, operational and technical roles |
| Aggregators (Jooble) | Offers collected from many websites | Coverage of small websites | You apply elsewhere and there's no record | Not missing hidden offers |
| Offers and recruiters looking for profiles | Being found without applying | Offers attract huge numbers of applications | Qualified profiles and managers | |
| Each company's careers page | That company's vacancies | Offers that sometimes never reach job boards | You have to check them one by one | When you know your target companies |
| Public employment services | Public and private offers, guidance and training | Free, with programmes for specific groups | Fewer offers for qualified profiles | First job, changing sector or retraining |
| Your network | Roles that haven't been advertised yet | You arrive with a recommendation | Only works if you ask for help | Any profile, and more so the more experience you have |
If you want to compare specific apps, our guide to the best job search apps sets out what each one does well and who it suits.
How to look for a job online without losing the whole morning
To look for a job online without losing the whole morning, set up a few very specific alerts, check offers at a fixed time and log every application in a single place. One alert per combination of role and location you genuinely want works better than ten generic alerts that flood your inbox.
Before you apply, read the whole advert and check three things: that it meets your four preferences, that you can prove what they ask for with examples and that the offer is genuine. A legitimate recruitment process never asks you to pay anything or hand over your bank details before an interview.
Going through five job boards every morning is exactly the work CompassHub wants to save you: it brings job offers from different job boards into one place and shows you only the ones that match your preferences, wherever they are posted. Until the app launches, the method of a few alerts and a fixed time works best.
How to find a job in Spain: the market and public services
To find a job in Spain, it helps to understand the context and not to skip the public employment services. According to the Labour Force Survey published by Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) on 28 July 2026, the unemployment rate stood at 9.87% in the second quarter of 2026, with 2,495,300 people unemployed.
Spain's State Public Employment Service (SEPE) runs the Empléate job portal, which it presents as a place where employers and jobseekers can deal with each other directly, freely, simply and at no cost. Each Spanish region also has its own public employment service, with job offers, guidance and courses.
Registering as a jobseeker in your region makes sense even if you mainly search on private job boards: it gives you access to training programmes and to offers that aren't always advertised elsewhere.
CV and profile: how to prepare them for each application
Your CV and professional profile should let the person screening applications see within seconds that you fit the role: a base CV with your full history and a version tailored to each offer, with the achievements that offer asks for right at the top. Your LinkedIn profile should tell the same story, with the same dates and the same job titles.
Competition is why tailoring your CV isn't optional. According to InfoJobs' annual report, published on 26 March 2026, competition rose to an average of 56 candidates per vacancy in 2025, in a year with almost 2.5 million vacancies posted on the platform in Spain. A generic CV gets lost among that many applications.
Three changes that make a difference in every application:
- The headline at the top, with the job title. If the advert says "Financial controller", your CV should say the same, as long as it's true.
- Achievements with results, not duties. "Cut the month-end close from ten to six days" says more than "responsible for month-end close". That's an example: use your own results.
- The advert's own words. Many employers screen with an ATS, software that ranks CVs by how well they match the offer. Using the same terms as the advert helps you get through.
Your LinkedIn profile works while you're not applying: a clear headline, the role you're after and a complete work history help a headhunter (someone who searches for candidates on behalf of an employer) find you on LinkedIn.
How to organise and track your job applications
Organising your applications means keeping every job you apply for in a single place, with its status, the date and the next step, so you always know which processes are still alive and when it's your move. It's the stage people neglect most, and the one that saves the most processes.
The problem is that each job board only tracks its own. InfoJobs tells you what happens to what you send through InfoJobs; LinkedIn, to what you send through LinkedIn; and whatever you send through a company's own website isn't recorded anywhere. Search in three places and you have three incomplete lists.
The answer is your own board with a column for each stage. These are the ones we use at CompassHub, and they work just as well in a spreadsheet:
| Stage | What it means | What you note down | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent | You've sent the application | Date, channel and CV version | Wait for a reply or find a contact at the company |
| Being read | You know they've seen it | Who saw it and when | Prepare for a possible interview |
| Interview | You have an interview booked or done | Date, who interviewed you and what they asked | Thank-you message and ask about timings |
| Offer | They've made you an offer | Salary, format and deadline to reply | Compare it with your four preferences and decide |
Log rejections too, with the reason if they give one. After a few weeks, that column tells you where your search gets stuck: if you never get past "Sent", look again at your CV and the offers you choose; if you stall at "Interview", that's the stage to prepare better.
CompassHub has this board built into the app: every offer you like moves into your applications, whichever job board it came from, so no detail gets lost.
How to prepare for job interviews
Preparing for a job interview means researching the company and the role, having several real examples from your experience ready that answer what the offer asks for, and bringing your own questions. A well-prepared interview shows in the first few minutes, because you talk about their problem rather than reading through your CV line by line.
For every interview, prepare at least this:
- What the company does and why it's hiring. Whether it's a new role or a replacement changes a lot about what they expect from you.
- Your examples. Specific situations where you did what they're asking for, with what you did and the result.
- Your questions. About the team, the first few months and how success in the role is measured.
- Your number. The salary from which the move is worth it for you, the same floor you set at the start.
After the interview, note on your board what they asked and what was left open. That's the information you need for your follow-up message and for the next round.
CompassHub's team of coaches has more than 15 years' experience in headhunting, so they know the interview from the side of the person doing the hiring. If you'd like to prepare with someone, see how our career coaching works.
What to do when your job applications get no reply
When an application gets no reply, it helps to separate two cases: if you applied with no previous contact, wait a few weeks and keep searching without dwelling on it; if you've already had an interview, send a short message asking where the process stands. Either way, don't pause your search while you wait for a single answer.
Silence is more common than it seems and almost never says anything about your worth. In our experience, when a recruitment process ends without success, contact with the candidate is usually lost: the employer picks someone else or closes the process, and nobody tells you. We've seen it many times from the inside, and it's exactly what led us to create CompassHub.
A follow-up message that works has three parts:
- Reminder: the role and the date of the interview.
- Interest: one sentence on why you're still interested, with something specific you discussed.
- Open question: whether there's any news on next steps.
If they don't answer that message, close the process on your board and clear your head. If they call later, all the better; in the meantime, your energy belongs to the applications that are still alive.
How to find a job when you've been looking for months
To find a job when you've been looking for months, review your method stage by stage before sending more CVs: which offers you choose, how you tailor your CV, at which stage your processes end and who you've asked for help. More applications with the same method usually bring the same result.
Nobody can promise you a timeframe, and be wary of anyone who does. What you can control is where you put your effort:
- If nobody calls: the problem lies in the offers you choose or in your CV. Check whether you really meet what they ask for and whether your CV says so at the top.
- If they call but you don't get past the first interview: work on your examples and your questions.
- If you reach the final stages but aren't chosen: ask for feedback, and consider preparing for the final round with someone who has sat on the other side of the table.
- If you've relied only on job boards for a while: use your network. Tell former colleagues what you're looking for, with your four preferences.
Guides for each stage of your job search
Each stage of the job search has its own guide on the CompassHub blog and website. This list takes you to the one you need depending on where you are, so you can go deeper into one stage without rereading everything.
- Choosing where to look: the best job search apps, compared on the same criteria and by profile.
- Preparing interviews and applications with support: career coaching at CompassHub, with coaches who have more than 15 years' experience in headhunting.
- Choosing who to ask for help: how to find a coach in Spain, with what to check before you start.
- If you're a director or senior manager: executive coaching, for career moves with more at stake.