Organize Your Job Search

Many job seekers are unaware of the emerging wealth of software tools designed to organize and structure job searches. One of the newest entries is CVitae, freeware designed to help you design your resumes/cover letters, capture job posting data, and streamline the process of applying for jobs online.

Job search software aims to put the power of automation at the job seeker's fingertips. Some gather and organize your networking contacts while others source job leads for you while you sleep. Still others partially automate the process of uploading your resume to job boards/employer websites or completing online applications for you.

CVitae is free, but looks a bit limited to me. But for the job seeker just getting started with organizational software, this may be just the ticket. After all, who has time to learn a whole new software system in addition to managing an effective job search?

If you like your software a bit more robust, consider some of the other options on the market:

• YourJobSearcher.com costs $39.95 and features an automated search agent that combs the web for you (employer sites, job boards, newsgroups, and more) to produce thousands of targeted leads and deliver them to you by email. It searches 30+ sources and finds leads from 300+ job lead sites.
• UltimateJobSpider costs $19.95 and operates in a similar fashion as YourJobSearcher. A downloadable trial version is available for free.
• JobFish comes in at $54.99 and also offers a 20-day trial version. This package includes the ability to parse job ad details for use in resumes/cover letters, attach different resumes to varying jobs, keep job records and interaction history on each job applied for, track follow-up contacts, and blast resumes to recruiters. JobFish also allows you to import your existing Outlook contacts and organize your job leads by the referring recruiter.
• PongoSoftware offers a suite of job search-related software tools - resume/letter builders, a resume publisher, ad-tracker, and task manager - but lists no pricing on their website.
• JobTabs.com offers many of the same features as JobFish at a price of only $39.95. You can also try it for free for 14 days.

Try one or more of these packages before you buy to make sure it has all of the features you need most in your job search. Make automation work for you for a change!