Always keep an updated resume. If you are at a current job and accomplish something or get some kind of skill, put it on the resume or a word doc. Just keep everything up to date so that when you leave you have material to work with. Similarly, make sure to have contact info for people who will have your back. (Not like most places actually call, but it never hurts to be prepared).

When actively tuning up a resume for a job search, I’ve always been told to keep it just to one page. Having many pages of bloat has been told to me to be turn off. I usually have made variations of a resume during job searches to cater to different jobs by highlighting different relevant topics.

Know what kind of work and environment you are most comfortable with when looking for a job. Know what kind of downsides you are willing to accept. Some jobs with unique downsides like weird schedules, travel, or some sort of physical demand can have upsides in terms of valuing people who don’t run off. Of course, sometimes those jobs have downsides and don’t value employees, so I suppose you have to feel that out. If it is a job requiring special skills plus having the downsides it is more likely to value you.

Naturally, don’t trust interviews where the place is trying to oversell you on the job. Don’t trust places where they highlight things like a nice break room over actual benefits.

If you are going through a job agency, you often get temp-to-permanent offers. These are often sketchy, where they string along the temp contract workers with the promise of a permanent position but never serve it up. In my experience, both cubicle grunt work and entry level manufacturing do this a lot to people. On the other hand, some temp-to-hire positions are legit, and the temp time is basically a probation period that the company wants to be done with if the person is a good fit. In my experience with this, look around the workplace to see if they have any other temp people getting strung along, look to see how specific your value is, and look at the overall size of the company.

FWIW, my current job was a temp-to-hire situation. I was initially skeptical, but the interview sold me. Much of it was the boss who did not sugarcoat the downsides to the job, to be very clear with what I was getting into and what was expected, and make sure I was okay with it. There was a short kind of demonstration walkthrough of what I could expect. All this gave me the signal he was looking for a good fit and not just a warm body. My temp period was “up to” six months, but got cut off at about 3 when it was clear I was ready to stay.