Apps to increase career and job-search success


Leverage these apps to advance your career.

In today’s digital society, there’s an app to help you manage practically every aspect of your life, from your finances to your weight. Your professional life is no different. Whether you want to work more efficiently with a virtual team or job hunt on-the-go, there’s an app for that. Below are some of my favorite mobile apps that will help you be a more successful job seeker and productive, career-driven professional.

HopStop

Nothing’s worse than arriving late to an important meeting or interview. If you’re navigating a new city or trying to get across town during rush hour, arm yourself with HopStop. This free app provides travelers with door-to-door transit, walking, biking and taxi directions in more than 300 cities worldwide. Additionally, it will help you find the nearest subwaystations, estimate the travel time and cost for a taxi and provide real-time alerts and planned service changes.

Dropbox

Increasingly, professionals are taking their work home, often using multiple computers in the process. If you’re tired of emailing files to yourself, give Dropbox a try. This free app enables you to upload all of your photos, documents and videos from any device and share them easily with a customized link. This is especially useful when you’re working with a freelancer who may not have access to your company’s server or when your files are too large to be sent via email. As a job seeker, use Dropbox to upload your resume so you can quickly share them with a recruiter or networking connection anytime, anywhere.

Twitter

As I’ve mentioned before, Twitter is a great way for job seekers to discover new leads, research organizations and access career advice. If you’re not looking for a job, Twitter serves as a valuable networking tool. Use it to engage fellow attendees at an event by using the event’s hashtag. For instance, we use #JobMobile for our local events for recruiters. You can also use it to catch up on the latest news – it’s always easier to network with new people when you know what’s going on in the world.

HootSuite

Whether you’re managing your company’s social media channels or building a strong online brand for your job search or business, HootSuite can help. It allows you to monitor and manage your social media streams including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+. I love that I can schedule messages to be sent at specific times so if I’m stuck underground without Wi-Fi, my followers will still receive my career advice on a regular basis. The app is free, but you need to set up a HootSuite account first (free and pro plans available).

Evernote

Have you ever sat down for a meeting, only to realize you brought the wrong notebook? With Evernote, you don’t have to worry about that. You can capture all of your notes, images and audio files in one place and organize them into folders. Better yet, you can access these notes from practically every device, so you’ll always have the right information for your meeting. This app is also great for managing your career. Use it to build your brag sheet so you’re prepared to update your resume or prepare for salary negotiations with little notice.

Namerick

When you’re meeting new people while networking or interviewing, the last thing you want to do is forget someone’s name. Not only is it awkward, but it can harm a potentially value relationship. Prevent this with an app called Namerick ($0.99). Use it to quickly jot down a person’s name and notes about them, such as where you met, what they do and what they look like. Go a step further and put down any little details you learned about them during your conversation. Not only will this help you remember the person, but it will make following up and nurturing that connection much easier.

Source : Amanda Augustine @ Theladders

The Modern Resume


What’s the difference between a computerized ATS (Applicant Tracking System) and a black hole?

Not much, if you don’t know which aspects of your resume give you a good ranking vs. what makes these software programs choke.

The people who work with these tools say it best: “[They’re] a wonderful tool (if utilized correctly) for recruiters and hiring managers; however, they can be a black hole for the applicant if their resume is not accurately targeted to the open position with appropriate keywords and/or highlighted experience,” according to Laurie M. Winslow, principal at Talent Innovations Group Inc. Winslow has worked with a slew of vendors’ ATSes over her 20-plus years in human resources, as an executive search consultant, an in-house corporate recruiter and as a career coach and professional resume writer.

TheLadders spoke to ATS vendors and people like Winslow — the professionals who use this technology — to unlock these mysterious black boxes to figure out how they handle yourt resume. We also spent time with these pros to figure out how your resume gets handled by other computer systems, including e-mail security screening.

Use this list to ensure your resume gets where it needs to go and that it receives as high a ranking as possible, optimizing your chances of getting an interview.

Checklist

1. Do not apply to a company multiple times if the positions do not match your experience and skills. Recruiters notice multiple submissions, and it reflects poorly on a candidate if he or she applies for jobs that aren’t a good fit.

2. Don’t send your resume as an attachment. To avoid getting caught by security scans, paste it into the body of the e-mail.

3. When e-mailing a resume, keep exclamation marks out of the subject line and body of the text.

4. When e-mailing a resume, don’t use words in the document or headline that could be misinterpreted by spam filters. For example, use “graduated with high honors” instead of “graduated cum laude.”

5. Include a professional or executive summary at the resume top, followed by a list of bulleted qualifications and/or achievements.

6. Customize the professional/executive summary and bulleted list(s) with keywords that match a given job.

7. Make sure the keywords in the executive summary and bulleted qualifications and achievements replicate those in the job posting.

8. Keywords alone aren’t enough. State-of-the-art ATS technology relies on contextualization as well. Frame keywords with descriptive material that demonstrates experience and familiarity with the subject.

9. Do not use abbreviations such as “Mgr” instead of “Manager.” It is unlikely that the ATS has been programmed with a list of abbreviations to stand in for keywords.

10. Avoid misspellings. A misspelled keyword is a keyword that the ATS will miss, lowering your ranking.

11. Use standard capitalization, not all lowercase or full capitals. Improper capitalization annoys recruiters.

12. Fill in all the information requested by an online application process, even if it’s listed as optional. Recruiters often sort by optional information to filter out applicants, and filling in all fields will ensure you don’t erroneously get caught in a screening filter.

13. Fill in all information requested by an online application process, even if it’s included in your resume. This information can be used to filter out applicants before a hiring manager comes to the point of opening the resume itself.

14. If you’re being referred by an employee, make sure the ATS knows it, because it’s smart enough to care and will rate your resume higher.

15. If the ATS offers options, opt for uploading your resume instead of cutting and pasting. This feature often parses information and saves it in the optimal format, ensuring the cleanest presentation.

16. To avoid choking an ATS with a highly formatted resume, make sure your resume is in a clear, concise format, with your contact information located at the top instead of in the header or footer.

17. Do not include graphics or logos on a resume; they can garble the information the ATS processes.

18. Respond within 24 hours after hearing back from a company.

19. Keep an eye on spam folders. Filters are so sensitive today that they recognize e-mail that’s automatically generated — a category which both spam and follow-up e-mail generated from an ATS program can fall into.

20. Adhere to instructions provided in follow-up e-mail. If the follow-up e-mail lacks a phone number but directs you to respond with your availability, respond via e-mail, not by calling. This will likely get you the fastest response.

21. If you receive an automatically generated rejection e-mail, immediately contact the recruitment office of the rejecting organization or a sympathetic administrative assistant — anyone who can advise you as to the best way to replace the resume currently in the ATS with one containing better keywords and phrases.

22. When reapplying after an initial rejection, tweak executive summaries and bulleted lists of key skills and achievements. Don’t alter your work history elements.

23. When reapplying, don’t try to use a different e-mail address from the one you used on your first try. This isn’t enough to avoid a duplicate record in advanced systems such as Taleo, which use multiple candidate identifiers, so make sure to follow Step #21.

24. Once your customized resume has been resubmitted, contact the appropriate recruiter (or sympathetic administrative assistant) and request that your updated resume be reviewed for the open position.

Source : Lisa Vaas @ Theladders

How to Leverage your smartphone for the job search


Get ‘smart’ about your job search to turn your downtime into valuable job-search time.

Have you noticed how just about everything in our world has gone mobile? You can deposit your checks without going to the bank, chat face-to-face with loved ones far away, and read books and magazines on-the-go without harming a single tree. Even the most brick-and-mortar businesses have developed mobile websites (and perhaps an app or two) to compete in today’s market.

Similarly, the recruiting process is becoming more mobile. In fact, today marks the beginning of a two-day JobMobile Summit TheLadders is hosting for employers and recruiters to discuss this very topic.

As job seekers, it’s important to embrace the mobile job search or get lost among the competition. Here are five tips to make the most of your smartphone for the job search.

Search & Vet Job Listings

If you’re using a website to search for job listings, download its accompanying app so you can access and vet job postings on-the-go. For instance, TheLadders’ app, “Job Search by TheLadders,” allows job seekers to identify job matches on-the-go, discover new job opportunities and retrieve information on your competition. Instead of searching by keyword, this app delivers tailored matches based on your profile, experience and career goals. The listings refresh every time you open the app, ensuring you’re looking at the newest job posts.

Beat the 72-Hour Window

A recent study by TheLadders found that the longer you wait to apply to a job, the less likely it is to receive a call back. If you are a good fit for a role, apply to the position within the first 72 hours of the job’s posting. Your smart phone is a great way to help you stay ahead of this 72-hour deadline.

Research Your Network

You can also access your social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn to determine if you know someone from a target employer. Use these apps on your smartphone to do the research and reach out to your connections. Your contact can provide valuable insight in to the company, helping you determine if the job is worth an application. Additionally, studies have shown you’re 10 times more likely to land an interview when your application is accompanied by an employee referral.

Begin the Application Process

You can save yourself a lot of time by sifting through opportunities while on-the-go and flagging the ones that merit an application. You can then craft the perfect cover letter and tweak your resume appropriately when you’re in front of a computer. Additionally, many positions allow you to begin the application process by passing along your profile. In fact, with TheLadders app you can save the position for later or tap an icon to “like” the position, which immediately sends an alert to the hiring manager with your profile.

Be Resume-Ready

Bring your important job-search documents wherever you go. Use services like iCloud or Dropbox to store your resume, references or portfolio of work on multiple devices, including your smartphone or tablet. If a recruiter reaches out requesting your resume in the middle of the day, you can respond right away. You no longer have to wait until you’re back at home and in front of a computer.

Source : Amanda Augustine @ TheLadders

Take advantage of your smart devices to search on-the-go and during the workday, and never miss a beat in your job search. Looking for more apps to boost your job search or career?