Gone are the days when a resume and a fistful of newspaper classified ads were all one needed to land a new job. Today, technology has both complicated and simplified job searches.
The latest development is applications: Dozens of smart-phone apps are giving enterprising applicants a leg up.
Here's a sampling:
Android's HireADroid app aggregates listings from multiple job search sites. It also allows you to save them to your favourites or to send an e-mail from within the app. It's free.
JobCompass, for Android and iPhone, allows you to enter your location and preferred job type, and not only provides listings, it plots them on a map. It, too, is free.
On BlackBerry, the free Beyond.com app allows users to search thousands of jobs across more than 25 industries by sorting by location and keyword. The app can also review detailed job descriptions, save jobs to a list of favourites and share jobs with friends. It's available in the BlackBerry App Store along with Beyond's collection of industry-specific search tools, including AdministrativeJobs.com, FinancialJobBank.com and CanadianJobForce.com.
There's a version available for Windows Phone 7, too. You'll find it in Microsoft's Marketplace as BeyondJobs.
If Monster.com is part of your job searching regimen, well, there's an app for that. The Monster app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad lets job seekers search and apply for positions from their Monster account and keep track of the latest postings. Monster says in its first five months of release, the iPhone app alone was used for 1.5 million job searches and that users applied for more than 200,000 of those jobs. The app is free in Apple's App Store.
CareerBuilder.com also offers a free app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It's available on iTunes in eight languages, and with the help of geo-location technology, it finds positions in the applicant's vicinity.
Of course, finding the job listing is only part of the battle. You then have to apply and keep track of your applications. Apps can help with those chores, too.
Job Application Checklist, for BlackBerry ($3.99 U.S.), starts with the decisions you need to make, such as temporary or full-time, and walks you through the steps to deciding on a specific job, collecting the credentials and paperwork and the other necessary minutiae. It lets you track multiple jobs, providing a summary of progress on each.
For Apple users, iGetAJob (99 cents from the iTunes store) lets you keep track of phone calls, e-mail and personal visits, as well as information on jobs themselves, including position, contact person, date, pay rate and any other information you need. It also organizes the contacts that you use for your job search.
ToDo Task Manager for Android is a simple to-do list app, with reminders and a link to Google Calendar. It makes tracking the tasks involved in a job search manageable.
Struggling with building the perfect resume? Check out the free Best Resume Tips app from the Android Market.
On iTunes, you can grab Resume App by Vurgood Applications ($2.99), which lets you create a properly formatted resume, save it as a PDF and send it out. On BlackBerry, the English Writing tutorial (99 cents) includes a section on resume writing. The same app is also available for Windows Phone 7.
Networking is a crucial part of a job search, and the business-focused social networking site LinkedIn is key for making online connections. You'll find a free LinkedIn app for iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad on iTunes, and a BlackBerry app on BlackBerry App World. Android users have several choices, including DroidIn.
The only available LinkedIn app in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace has terrible ratings; best to use your browser instead and hit LinkedIn's mobile site (m.linkedin.com) until something more useful appears.
Thanks to Lynn Greiner / The Globe and Mail Inc.
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