Job Search Technology – What You Should Know

Technology is embedded in our daily lives and should be an important part of your job search! The time spent learning how to use technology will result in powerful knowledge that will help you feel more in control of the resources available on the Internet. Simple changes in your utilization of search engines like Google, corporate websites, and alerts by email can make searching for jobs much more streamlined and effective.

Company-specific Websites

A corporate website can be a tremendously valuable resource for your job search in several ways. You’ll be able to conduct traditional research to help you find out more about the organization when preparing for the interview. Another by-product of this is that you can often discover the name and title of the individual with whom you will be interviewing with you can help when tailoring your cover letter too.

In addition, company websites can be an excellent way to obtain job postings. Most companies will have a section of their website dedicated to “Employment” or “Jobs.” However, even if no obvious links are listed, you can use search engines like Google to uncover openings with companies of interest to you. Use the format below with search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing to expand your search.

• company name.com jobs
• company name.com careers

If uncertain about a specific company, you can also search by job title:

• (job title): jobs
• Property manager: jobs

To limit your search to a certain geographic region, simply add in the location:

• (job title): jobs Chicago
• Architect: jobs Chicago

If your initial search does not give you the results you were looking for, there might not be any job openings at this time or the company could be using a job sites like Indeed or Simply Hired to handle their job posting needs. If all else fails, you can obtain contact information through the corporate website and call the HR department to get the latest job openings.

Job Search Sites

Checking every job posting site can become really time consuming. Take advantage of available job search technology by using the major search engines to discover the open positions for you on specific job sites along with more obscure listings posted on social media sites like Twitter. Additionally, focusing your job search to a particular position or skill set, and you are likely to unearth listings that might be missed by your competition.

The search terms you choose will determine what results you get, for example:

• position title apply
• nurse administrator apply

Efficient Searches

Search engines are only able to be as good as the ways in which we utilize them. To enhance the effectiveness of your search, you might need to try out different techniques and strategies.

Some basic tips to boost your searches consist of:

• Vary the search terms you choose by testing both singular and plural terms (e.g., job and jobs) or using acronyms in addition to spelling out company names.
• Switch the order of terms. Try Director of Sales or Sales Director.
• Narrow down your search by using quotation marks so as to include only exact phrases, for instance “executive-level chef.”

Search engines often include a “similar” designation after each entry returned in your search. When you click through that link you might get additional listings that will often be “similar” to your search terms, thereby widening your search results with very little effort from you.

After you land your interview, you can use web based maps that may help you find the location of the business in case you have never been there.

Email Alerts

One sign of a productive job search is that your inbox will probably be full! Now you might think that this is a nice problem to have, however an overflowing email inbox can cause you headaches too. Imagine overlooking the email that’s asking you to schedule a preliminary phone or Skype meeting. Ouch!

Each email system is different, but most have options to flag or filter email about specified topics or from specific sources into a separate file. You can easily create a folder labeled “Jobs” and create a filter to automatically transfer any correspondence from job search sites or particular companies into that folder. Although this extra step does add a certain amount of time, it always pays off by keeping you on top of valuable job search messages.

Job Search Services

Something that we offer our clients is a customized page on our site that they can access at any time to keep tabs on what jobs have been posted to the major job search sites as well as niche job posting boards. This is a real time saver and is always up to date without getting bombarded by emails from the job boards. For those of you who have seen this you know what I’m talking about.

So by utilizing job search technology to streamline your job search you can effectively manage your time during a job search that may also provide you with job leads which the competition hasn’t managed to find. Having the capability to locate those hidden jobs gives you real power in today’s job market. Integrate job search technology to your job search toolbox today and take advantage of the information at your fingertips to make your job search less frustrating and hopefully pay off faster by landing a job sooner!

Good Luck,