How Do You Manage Your Job-Search Info?

bilsaysthis writes "Finding job postings, tips for effective resume writing and social networking tools to overcome the 'who you know' problem are generally available these days, but what about keeping track of all the information (jobs applied for, people contacted, follow ups, etc)? After looking I found people using all sorts of informal means (text files, spreadsheets, email folders, bookmarks) but nothing very organized or focused specifically on the tasks. What do you use?"

Comments

Well basically...

[joto]

Here's my way of doing job search.

The following steps should'nt be necessary to do more than once per unemployment period. Preferably as early as possible, as it is the most guaranteed way of finding a job you actually like!

1. Find companies that you know offer jobs you might be interested in
2. Write a general application form telling them what kind of jobs you might be interested in, and why, as well as a copy of your CV

Furthermore, these steps should be followed at least once a week:

1. Find ads for jobs you are interested in (in newspapers, internet job database, unemployment agency, etc...)
2. Read them
3. If there are some of them you are interested, think you have a chance to get, and haven't already applied, apply

Concurrently, the following steps must be followed every day

• Check mail (yes, even snail-mail!), be available on phone (or at least check your answering machine)
• If you are asked to come for an interview, say yes, take a note of the company, address, contact persion, time and date
• If you have an interview today, take a shower, dress up somewhat responsibly, and try to be there on time

Finally, a tip regarding CV's. It should be honest, to-the-point, and keep mostly only informaton of interest to the potential employer. E.g. If you are applying for a bodyguard job, make sure to cover all your military training in detail, but only briefly mention you PhD's. If you are applying for a job as a rocket scientist, you can do the opposite. If there are holes in your CV, such as periods of sickness, depression, etc, be brutally honest, and explain why.

To keep yourself organized, you need a pen, and two sheets of paper, one with the names of companies you have already applied for, and another with company/address/contact person/date/time/ for interviews you have agreed to meet up for.

If these steps are too complicated, and you feel you need a DBMS to keep track of you job-hunt, you are doing something wrong.

Wiki

[Seumas]

I installed a wiki on my main desktop about a year ago. I manage everything with it, including job-hunting, resumes, contacts, reminders. There are many wikis, but I found Twiki to be the most powerful and flexible with the most features. If you're stuck on Windows, you can even install Apache and Cygwin so that you can use Twiki on it. There's even full instructions on their site walking you through that process.

Re:My technique.

[Seumas]

You have to remember that a lot of geeks spend weeks writing software just to catalogue their DVD collection. It's only natural to feel compelled to extend that to jub hunting (and everywhere for that matter). It's just a quirk.

Thank you

[Safety Cap]

Also, if you're only dealing with two or three companies, you may not be living in the real world.

Please continue to dole out advice such as this. I need less competition when I am looking for a job and targeting a company. As more and more people scour want ads (success rate: < 1%)/online job boards (success rate: < 3%) and use the shotgun approach to job hunting, that means less people getting between me and the hiring manager.

Please also direct job hunters to talk to HR departments. I hear if you get a post card from them, you are "virtually guaranteed" to get a job. Really!

Thank you.

a simple text editor is fine

[Bill Dog]

Unless you're doing a nation-wide search, there just won't be that many jobs that you realistically qualify for that you'd need a dbms. (Spamming your resume far and wide for things you barely have a single buzz-word in common with is pointless and just makes you appear desperate and undesirable like all the others that do that.)

With a simple text editor, I keep track of:
company name
email addy
web site
what part of town they're in
job title
job description (buzz-words)
my approx. degree of fit
dated history of my attempted contacts, including actual text of customized cover letter (I usually make these very short) and the filename of the customized resume

I put them in order of my interest in them.

Leave your computer on when you're home, with that file loaded, so when the phone rings, you can make a mad dash to answer with the phone by the computer, and immediately scroll down to see the goods on the company who's calling, so you don't get something confused and sound like an ass (been there, done that).

I also use a physical notepad, to take to interviews. The first page contains my std list of questions that I ask of every potential employer (sometimes I end up asking slightly more questions in an interview than the interviewer). The following pages contain the answers, one page per company (it probably helps after you've done a couple, and they can see that you've had other interviews/interest in you/competition).

I'll also print out the section for that company from my text file and stuff that in there, to take along and read right before the interview, to make sure my memory is fully refreshed and not partly confused with another company's stuff and my conversation history with them.

Personal Analog Assistant

[sysadmn]

All my previous job searches were in the era before Monster, DICE, Hotjobs and all the rest. So take this with a grain of salt. You can accomplish the same thing by creating a directory structure and a todo-list.

I bought a plain old binder, punched notebook paper, a page that held floppies, and a set of dividers. Label Dividers "Todo", "Open", "Inactive", "Raw Materials".

Each company you're interested in gets a sheet of notebook paper. Glue the ad (or printed online job spec) on the paper. Use that paper to WRITE DOWN every action you take - when you applied, when they called or ding'ed you, etc.

If you need to take action, that company's packet goes in "TODO"; if you're waiting on them, it goes in "OPEN". If they've indicated they're not interested, it goes in "INACTIVE". If you run across a good article on cover letters, a new search site, or whatever, it goes in "Raw Materials".

Make a copy of everything you create on a set of floppies. Use those floppies as templates so you're not starting from scratch each time.

• Quick hints:
• Tailor your resume and cover letter for every job you apply for.
• If you get an interview, walk in with a list of the 10 accommplishments in the last year. Tailor this list so the interviewer understands what you can do for him or her.
• Submitting a resume is not a fire and forget action. You need to follow up with a phone call, email or other action. You need to Check back on a period basis until you get a response, or give up on that job.