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Megan Burkham

How to Manage Your Job Search

When the job market is as difficult as it is, it’s imparative to effectively manage your job search - AND your career. All you need to do is create your resume, write a quick cover letter and apply for jobs… Right?

WRONG. It’s not that simple. There are fewer positions available and more candidates for every job opening. You not only have to be competitive - you have to be super-competitive and able to make a strong positive impression on every hiring manager, recruiter, and networking contact.

Managing Your Job Search

In addition, to taking the time to carefully craft a customized resume and letter for every job you apply for, you need to take it a step further. It’s critically important to manage your job search and to be able to respond immediately to job openings that match your qualifications, answer inquiries from employers, and follow up on recent applications and contacts you have reached out to.

That’s not always that easy. There are so many facets of job searching today - applying for jobs, resume posting, connecting on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, professional branding - that it can be hard to keep track. 

Jason Alba, CEO of JibberJobber, the online career management tool, explains “In my job search I didn’t think I’d need a job search organizational tool, but as my job search went on, and I continued to network and apply for jobs, the need for a tool like JibberJobber grew exponentially - because the amount of data I was collecting grew exponentially! It’s easy to get buried under the data and miss follow-up opportunities (or, like in my case, appointments)!”

One way to effectively manage your job search is to take advantage of the free tools, like JibberJobber, that are available to help organize your job search and your career. In addition, you’ll save a lot of time, because you’ll be managing your job search in one place, rather than flipping back and forth between your email and an abundance of different web sites.

It’s also important that you continue to use these tools when you find a job, because unfortunately you it it quite uncertain to know how soon you’ll be looking for a new job. Once you get a system in place it will serve you well, both now and in the future.

The following selection of top job search management solutions you will find most beneficial. Take advantage of these free resources that will help expedite your job search.

Job Search Management Tools

JibberJobber

JibberJobber provides an easy way to keep track of all of the information that you collect during a job search. You can track where you have sent your resumes, the jobs you apply for, and log the status of each job as you proceed through the hiring process. In addition, you can track your personal networking contacts and keep a log of how they have helped you, as well as connect with them on LinkedIn.

Becomed.com

Becomed.com is a free job search management tool. You can record your applications, resumes and cover letter templates, and track the job applications you have sent, how far have they have advanced in the hiring process, and what the next steps in your job search will be.

Job search and career management sites you can use to organize your job search.

my.indeed

Indeed.com users can set up a my.indeed account to help manage their job search. This feature lets job seekers save searches, add notes to saved job listings and manage job alerts to be notified about new job listings.

Here are more tools, widgets, and gadgets, that will help expedite your job search, including LinkedIn buttons you can add to to your web site, blog, or networking profile, plus desktop applications you can download to your computer.

More Job Search Management Resources

Google Tools

If you take your job search online, you’ll be able to access your correspondence, calendar, and contacts from any computer. Gmail users can access all their email accounts via Gmail and when you’re in Gmail you will see links to your calendar and your documents.

Google Documents is an easy application to use. You can upload documents directly from your computer (browse to select the file, then click to upload) or create a new document right on the web site. You can edit your documents (which is perfect for cover letter writing) and export them as Word, OpenOffice, PDF, RTF, or HTML files.

So, with a Google account, you can access your resumes and letters from your Gmail account and apply for positions directly from the web via Gmail.

Microsoft Outlook

You can use your Outlook Address Book to keep track of your contacts and the Calendar to keep track of your activities. There are daily, weekly, and monthly views, and options to set reminders so you don’t miss important events. You can also use the Tasks section to create a “to do” list. Both your calendar and your tasks will show in the right sidebar of your email, so you will see what you need to do when you’re in the program.

Job Search Gadget and Widget Options

Here are more tools, widgets, and gadgets, that will help expedite your job search, including LinkedIn buttons you can add to to your web site, blog, or networking profile, plus desktop applications you can download to your computer.

The key to successfully using these tools is to pick and choose. Don’t download every widget and gadget that’s available - you’ll clutter up your desktop and your browser, and the jobs will get lost in the shuffle.

Select tools that will help expedite your job search and make your life easier. You’ll be able to save a lot of job searching time, if you choose applications that help bring job listings directly to you and that help you communicate faster with your contacts and prospective employers.

Browser, Desktop, and Web Widgets

  • Indeed Email Job Alerts - Sign up to receive new job postings from Indeed via email.
  • Indeed Job Search Tools -Indeed has job search plugins for Firefox and for your Google Desktop, an application for Facebook, a button for your Google Toolbar, and more services from Indeed.com.
  • my.indeed.com - Create a my.indeed account and access your saved jobs, notes, and searches from any computer.
  • IngBoo - Track your job searches on top job sites.
  • SimplyHired Job Search Tools - Add job alerts to Facebook, add a job search widget to your iGoogle homepage, your blog, or your desktop, access job listings from your cell phone, or sign up for one of the other services that will help you find jobs fast.
  • SimplyHired Email Alerts- Set up an email alerts so you can get new job listings on a daily or weekly basis.
  • Yahoo! Widgets - Download widgets to help expedite your job search.

Facebook Applications

There are lots of job search and career building Facebook applications you can add to your profile, including Career Builder, CareerJournal, CBCampus Career Link, Jobsite, Jobster, Indeed, MonsterTrak, and ShowBizJobs.

LinkedIn

  • Email Signature - Create an email signature with a link to your LinkedIn Profile.
  • LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar - Build your network from within LinkedIn, invite your contacts with a single click, view LinkedIn mini-profiles in your email, and manage your LinkedIn contacts in Outlook.
  • Promote Your LinkedIn Profile - Download a button you can use to promote your LinkedIn profile in your blog or web site (there’s a widget so you can add it directly to your Typepad blog).

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