Guerrilla Marking for Job Hunters 2.0 - Jay Conrad Levinson [40]
• Google Local: Do you hate to commute? Want to relocate? If where you work is as important as whom you work for, you can limit your job search to a specific location. Google can help. At local.google.com you can search for employers and businesses in a specific area. Simply type in a business name or industry, as well as your city (the more specific the better). Example: “advertising agencies near Detroit, MI.” Take this string complete with the “” and put it into Google local. Always leave in the word “near” but play around with keywords and the city or address.
• Message Tag: Everybody loves e-mail. It’s cheap, quick, and easy. But how many times do you find yourself wondering what happened to that message? Should I call to see if they got it or should I wait? You’ll never wonder again. Don’t let the technology derail your job search one more minute (www.msgtag.com/download/).
• Phrase Express: Filling in forms and/or remembering that ideal phrase you used last week will never be a challenge again. This free program can save you a lot of typing (www.phraseexpress.com).
• Google Docs: Ever need to change something in your resume at the last minute, or wish you could show a recruiter or prospective employer your portfolio? Google to the rescue again—this time with Google Docs www.google.ca/intl/en/options/. Make yourself 2 separate accounts, one for you to keep your private documents on and another which you allow employers or recruiters to view relevant material such as references, resume, transcripts, and sample projects. You will be able to access your account from the internet during your interview. You could show the employer your portfolio on the employers computer screen.
• News Search Engines: Keep on top of breaking news on your desktop. News search engines automatically collect stories from thousands of sites on the Internet. They then cluster the stories and photos into an online magazine format. It is like having CNN right on your desktop, but you get to decide what you want to see. The top news search engines are:
— Google News (news.google.com)
— Yahoo News (news.yahoo.com)
— Alta Vista News (www.altavista.com/news/)
— All the Web News (www.alltheweb.com)
— MSN News (msnbc.msn.com)
• Google Alerts: Even more impressive for my money are Google Alerts, a service available at www.google.com/alerts/. Essentially, these are updates delivered by e-mail once a day based on information you tell Google to watch for. Use it like the job board agents to establish daily feeds of the information you need. It’s a fundamental tool and it’s free.
• eVoice: Need a telephone number you can always rely on for free? Want to have a number in a different city because you’re moving and employers will screen you out if they think they have to pay for your relocation? Want a phone your thoughtful children or roommate can’t tie up? Then you need eVoice. Did I mention it’ll deliver messages to your desktop (www.evoice.com)?
• Grand Central: if you’re on the go and live on your cell, then you need to check out www.grandcentral.com by Google. It’s your one-stop solution as a guerrilla job hunter: voicemail, e-mail, and a whole lot more to your cell phone.
GUERRILLA INTELLIGENCE
Guerrilla Googling and the Job Hunter’s Dashboard
Amitai Givertz
Google’s search engine has become an indispensible tool for everyone who spends any amount of time online. In the hands of a highly motivated operative, Google can be a job seeker’s most powerful weapon.
When Google’s various products and services are integrated for the single purpose of landing a job, that’s “Googling.” Using Gmail for sending off resumes; Google Docs for writing cover letters; Google Calendar for rescheduling the latest sorry-something-just-came-up-can-we-reschedule-the-interview-for-next-week-speaking-too-fast-to-catch-my-number-click