A Guide to Finding a Job in NYC: The Big Apple

Time to land a job in the big apple! See our guide for expert tips on finding a job in NYC, plus tips on preparing for interviews.

When it comes to landing that perfect job, there are plenty of things you can do today to get you closer to where you want to be in your career.

A good place to start is our handy NYC guide. We’ve put together some expert tips on how to get a job in New York as well as some ideas for mastering the interview process.

Whether you’re curious about how to find a job in Los Angeles or are strictly interested in finding a job in NYC—keep in mind that much of this guide can be applied to cities around the country. We’re confident that with a few simple pieces of advice, you’ll be landing that dream job in the Big Apple in no time.

Popular Jobs in NYC

In 2019, Zippia—The Career Expert—named these 10 jobs the fastest-growing jobs in NYC. New York, as the article notes, has been in a constant state of growth and change since its founding. It’s a city always on the move, especially within its workforce. According to the collected data, these were the top 10 fastest-growing jobs in NYC for 2019:

  • Gaming cashier
  • Statistician
  • Home health aid
  • Writer
  • Web developer
  • Interpreter and translator
  • Physical therapy aide
  • Nurse practitioner
  • Biomedical engineer
  • Personal care assistant

Of course, New York abounds with plenty of other opportunities, too, and what’s rapidly growing one year might slow down the next. From architects to data scientists, there are plenty of work sectors that are constantly hiring talent in NYC.

What to Do Next

If you think you fit somewhere into the mold of the Big Apple workforce, start with making some lists to get yourself organized.

First, make a list of your skill sets. These skill sets are the knowledge, abilities, and experience that you bring to a job and make your potential employer eager to hire you for the position.

A good way to separate your skills is by hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are those that are teachable and related to your specific position. They can include things like copywriting, financing, and computer software. You can also list what specific programs you’re proficient in—like Adobe Creative Cloud, Asana, or Excel. In addition to hard skills, there are also soft skills. For these, think more along the lines of problem-solving, flexibility, teamwork, and communication skills.

Finding a job in NYC, especially those that are in high demand, will be easier once you fine-tune exactly what you’re looking for and figure out what you can offer the organization as a candidate. Each of us is granted unique traits and characteristics—once you nail down what those are, you can let them shine through in your resume, cover letter, and your interview.

Tips for Interviews

Whether you’re trying to find a job in San Franciscofind a job in Seattle, or you’re only searching in NYC—a job interview is part of the process. Interviews can seem nerve-wracking at first, but with a handful of tips, you can easily learn to master them. Put these tricks in your back pocket (or your portfolio) then next time you’re prepping for an interview, and prepare to land your dream job.

Do Your Research

Part of finding a job in NYC is doing your research beforehand. When you go in for an interview, you want to make sure you’ve researched both the company and the job description. What are their core values? What are they looking for in a potential candidate? What have the executives said in interviews with publications and on digital media? If you familiarize yourself with these things beforehand, you can make a good impression on the big day. Companies want to know you care—and showing up to the interview having done your research will prove just that. Plus, if you reread the job description a handful of times, you’ll be able to narrow in on what you can offer that goes in line with what the company is looking for.

Practice Questions

When you’re excited about a job opportunity, it’s common to get nervous during your interview. To ease your nerves, practice your interview questions beforehand. You can even enlist the help of your roommate, friend, or spouse to practice a series of questions and answers. Essentially, an employer wants to know why you’ll be a good fit for the job. They want to know about your qualifications, your strengths, and your weaknesses. Remember to stay focused and direct. An important part of how to get a job in New York is remaining calm and confident—even amidst the city’s famous hustle and bustle.

Prepare References

During the process of applying for jobs, it’s more than likely you’ll be asked for references. These might be a mix of employment references, professional references, and personal references. Think of past employers, instructors, and colleagues who can attest to your character and work ethic. Many potential employers might view your past employers as the references that carry the most weight. You want to choose an employer who can not only talk about your work experience and skills but can speak about personal qualities like dependability and honesty. Coming up with references can seem anxiety-producing at first but it’s all just part of the job search process.

NYC Job Sites

These days, there are plentiful options for job searching that can be done in the comfort of your own home. A simple Google search will yield sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, Simply Hired, and Monster. All of these are good tools when you’re figuring out how to get a job in New York. In addition to these popular sites, there are also some New York specific websites and resources that are good to look into as well.

New York Jobs

New York Jobs gives users access to virtually any job that’s available in NYC. You can search by job category, like sales, management, restaurant, and foodservice, or teaching. You can also use this site to go about finding a job in NYC by location. Search through openings in East Hampton, Smithtown, Queens, Peekskill, and beyond. This can be a good resource for those who are living outside of the city and aren’t interested in a daily commute. The job search is divided into three categories on the website—find a job, be found, or hire someone.

Built in NYC

If you’re wondering how to get a job in New York in the startup sector, check out Built in NYC. This is an online community specifically for startup jobs, tech news, and events in the NYC tech scene. Not only will this website help you find your dream job—whether that’s working in development, design, marketing, sales, or data—but it will also help you network. The startup scene is bursting in NYC, and this resource helps you meet other techies and land a good job while you’re at it.

New York Works

New York Works has three goals—invest in the creation of middle-class jobs, ensure those jobs are accessible to New Yorkers and prepare for the jobs of the future. Using 5 strategies, NYC is aiming to create 100,000 good-paying jobs across the industries of tech, life sciences and health, industrial and manufacturing, creative and culture sectors, and space for jobs of the future. The site also offers several good resources for how to find a job in NYC. These include WE NYC for women entrepreneurs, opportunities for continuing education, NYC training guides, and more. If you’re looking to search around and see what sort of jobs are currently being created in New York, this is a good place to start.

New York Recruiters

If you need some help finding a job in NYC, you can also go the route of a staffing agency or recruiter. These agencies help to connect qualified individuals to the right job. If the idea of job searching feels overwhelming, reach out to one of these agencies and see if it might be a fit for you to work together. Often, these agencies work to bring in the applicants then sift through the candidates to make the right match with an employer.

Now that you’re more familiar with some of the best practices for how to get a job in NYC—we hope you land your dream gig. When you come to the Big Apple for your job interview, don’t forget to stay with Zeus. Our homes are more than a refuge—they’re a place for you to work, play, and socialize. We have plenty of thoughtfully furnished homes in the New York area, from pet-friendly studios to chic, Manhattan apartments.

Whether you’re looking to find a job in Washington, D.C., find a job in Boston, or have your heart set on the bustling and beautiful NYC, we know you’ll find just what you’re searching for.