This depends on what you consider obvious. (Many things that seem obvious to me now, would be a great advice 10 or 15 years ago; sometimes even 1 year ago.) Also there is a difference between knowing something and feeling it; or less mysteriously: between being vaguely aware that something "could help" and having an experience that something trivial and easy to miss did cause 50% improvement in results. So at the risk of saying obvious things: Don't be needy. Search for a job before you have to; that is before you run out of money. Some employers will take a lot of time; first interview, a week or two waiting, second interview, another week or two, third interview... be sure you have enough time to play this game. If a month later you get an offer that is not what you wanted, be sure to have a freedom to say "no". Speak with more companies. If you get two great offers, you can always take one and refuse the other. If you get two bad offers (or one bad offer and one rejection), your only choices are to take a bad offer, or start the whole process again, losing a month of your time. How many companies is enough? You probably don't want to make repeated interviews in 50 companies; but if you contact 10 companies, and only 4 respond, then 2 of them reject you and 2 of them give you a bad offer, that's also not what you want. This may depend on the region where you live and a position you seek, but I would recommend getting to the first interview (not just sending job application) with 7 or 10 companies. (Alternatively, if you are satisfied with your current job and don't mind staying there, and you are just curious whether there is a better opportunity, then contacting just 1 company is OK.) Make a good CV. An afternoon or a weekend well spent with CV can bring you years of increased income. Try to get a feedback what kind of information do your employers want. -- For example as a programmer, I used to write a list of companies I have previously worked at; which is a

I notice you have a STEM degree. Since the job market is in your favor, I'll assume you will find multiple employers interested in hiring you. Learn about salary negotiation now, before you go into an interview. If you're as clueless as I was when I got my first job, then you can pick up thousands of dollars for a few hours of research. Recommended reading: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/