Job searching during COVID-19 is tough. I know because I was looking for a job since last April, and I just landed a job two days before Christmas as a Software Engineer at Lowe's and had been skilling up to that job since late 2018.

So what worked in the end? Here are five resources that helped me land a job:

1) Danny Thompson's LinkedIn series

Solid gold that helped me completely turn the corner on my job search. I don't know about you, but I'm an audio/visual learner, so a couple of youtube channels have been my go-to resources, and highly rec Danny's motivational content as well. With the LinkedIn Series, he nailed it, but keep an eye out for his Interviewing Series that will come out soon. Can't wait.

https://youtu.be/SG5Sb5WTV_g

2) Lockdown Conf by freeCodeCamp

Chocked full of amazing content that though recorded in May 2020 is still amazingly relevant. Cherry-pick the topics of interest — part 3 was my favorite. Plus, I made a cameo with questions. See if you can find me in this Conf.

https://youtu.be/l8K0B270cgE

3) Watch and participate in Taylor Desseyn's daily LinkedIn live streams

Really, actually, ask him all your questions that you have for your recruiters in his live streams and LinkedIn Posts. He is the gold standard of a good recruiter — the recruiters against recruiters, the guidance counselor 2.0, the unicorn finder. He's also started sharing some awesome advice on Clubhouse, so hit him up with your questions live. No better way. When Taylor spoke, I listened and took action. Those actions led to results, period.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylordesseyn/detail/recent-activity/shares/

4) Learning to tell your story by Career Karma

The co-founders of Career Karma — Artur & Timur Meyster and Ruben Harris — are the mentors that were there in the very beginning. CK is where I learned how to tell my story, specifically from Artur. He shares some info similar to that one-on-one in this video chat. He knew the exact way to stop underselling that I was a pro who could step into the team and bring value because I've been coding longer than I had been detailing in my story and resume. This switch changed the leverage to be in my favor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb4N4da4YXs&ab_channel=CareerKarma

5) 10 questions to ask a recruiter (and 1 to avoid)

I would lastly say give this article by Andrea Sobel a read. One of the best things I did was fix my LinkedIn with Danny's help, then I started getting blown up on LinkedIn. I had to learn how to talk with recruiters and this article really helped me take control of the conversations. I began to ditch the recruiters who were unable to answer these questions and gain the respect of good recruiters because they treated me as a serious pro.

https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/10-questions-to-ask-a-recruiter-and-1-to-avoid

BONUS - Taylor Desseyn's Free Guides

I updated this list to include something that not only adds to Andrea's article, but it makes the questions more in the 2020's work climate — Taylor's free guides with 10 questions to Stump Recruiters and a Resume Template. You'll be blown away with how these questions can direct you to the good recruiters faster. If the majority of these questions get answered well and on the spot, then you know you have a good one. Also, don't miss out on the super simple resume guide that can help you craft a resume that will get you interviews.

https://www.taylordesseyn.com/freeguides