carrieg

I got laid off last week so have begun the dreaded job hunt. Can any of you provide any tips on how to keep track of web sites, searches, interviews, etc., etc? I'm thinking excel, but don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to. Since there's so many on this site, I thought I'd check with my fellow quilters. I would appreciate any suggestions.

First time in 29 years I've been without a job. It's so different now than when I got this job 12 years ago.

Thanks!

Maride

Carol, Welcome to my world. I was laid off last week as well. I am keeping track the old fashion way. On a notebook. I have a page and tape there recepits for all the expenses for later use on my taxes. I make a page for each job. write down the dates for interviews, tape the business card of the interviewers and everything related to that job. I use as a header the employer name as well as the job listing # if there is one, or the position name.

This is for my own use, so I don't loose anything I may need later, and I don't apply for the same job twice. I already started the unemployment claim, and since most jobs now a days are applied on line, I have a separte folder on my e-mail for job searches. When I apply for a job on line, I receive back and e-mail comfirming the application, and I save that. The unemployment agency rarely require you show evidence of the job search, but in an audit process you could be requested to show evidence, and I don't want to be caught off guard. In most places you have to register with them as part of the application process, and is not possible to apply for the same position twice.

If you are filling up a Federal application, be prepared for a treat. the process takes at least 1 hour and they need to know everything about you, even if you will never be even considered for the job. The let you know they got the application and that's it. Ah! And for each application you need to fax them your college credit transcript, even though I graduated 26 years ago. I don't think my grade in English 101 matters much now.

I keep one page on my notebook for user IDs and password. Every place has a different requirement for the characters of the password. I had one place requiring a 16 character password using letter, numbers, capitals, and special character.

The process of aplying for a job has been extremely time consuming and complicated. I am 47 yeas old . Who cares which High School I attended and the month of my High School graduation? I don't care to remember which job I held in 1980, when employers mainly care that you have recent experience related to the job you are applying for.

Sorry. I hope I somewhat answered your question and I will get off my soap box now.

MNQuilter

When I was job hunting, I had a plain old notebook that I wrote each job I applied for and some info about it on. I included where I saw the job posting, when I applied, website, address, phone number and if there was a contact I sen thte resume to. Then if I got a call about an interview, I had it all right there. I also kept all my application info right in it, such as dates of employment, references, addresses, phone numbers. A lot of that stuff is on a resume, but a lot isn't. I also made notes about if I actually talked to someone and who it was and what we talked about. I could then take the notebook with me if I applied in person somewhere too.

Lisanne

I'm going through exactly the same thing with these places that want ancient transcripts and whatnot. Also, I contracted for a number of years, and do I remember which agency I worked through or the hourly rate for each job? No, and frankly what I was paid is none of their business, but they have you over a barrel when you're applying for a job.

Lisanne

carrieg, I use Excel. Yes, you should keep records, for these reasons:
-- Unemployment requires that you be looking for work. If at any point they question whether you've been doing your part, you need to be able to have the facts ready.
-- It helps you keep all those job descriptions and companies and recruiters straight. Get confused by thinking one recruiter was for the wrong job, and it could lose you credibility, not to mention the job or potential future jobs.
-- It helps you follow up. You can go down your list and see who hasn't gotten back to you and call them.

What to put:
I based by spreadsheet columns on the requirements of PA state's unemployment. The columns:
Date
Company Applied To (if the job is through an agency, I put the agency first, then a slash, then the employer company. You may prefer separate columns for this instead.)
Contact Name & Title
Address
Phone
Email
Website
Job Title
Method of Contact (this was for the unemployment requirement. I don't find it all that useful.)
Results
Other

For Results, it could be anything from a confirmatory email for a web application to a callback, to a scheduled interview, to notification that I didn't get the job. I usually make another row's entry for another contact & just copy the info to the new row.

Other may be notes about the recruiter or manager, any info they pass along, etc.

You may find a different order works best for you or other columns, but this should get you started.

I copy and paste job descriptions into a Word document, which I save in a file for that purpose.

carrieg

Thanks ladies! It is totally different from the last I looked. At that time I got my job thru the newspaper classifieds.

I have a feeling it will get overwhelming....

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

My husband has been doing this for over a year. We have a 3-ring binder with all the user names and passwords for the 90 zillion sites he has been on. Also, every actual response he gets has it's own page with all the information on it.

Good luck. It is a mind numbing, disheartening experience.

MollieSue

Welcome to my world too, Carol, which I'm so sorry to see you join.
I've been on unemployment since January '09. Very, very slim pickings in our area.
I'm liking the ideas you're getting, and am going to borrow some of them!
The bestest luck to you!
:)

Moonpi

I've used Excel, too. If you go to the MicroSoft Office website, they even have a template so you don't even have to set one up. If finding a good job were as easy, I'd be much happier!

I'm working part time now, so according to the statistics, I am no longer unemployed, just UNDER employed.

My own job hunting experience has been that ads seldom list company names, and even after interviews, followup is nearly impossible.

Right on my desktop, I keep a copy of my resume, and another sheet with former employers/dates/contact info and school info. Nearly every online app needs the same basic stuff, so I can copy and paste my way through them instead of tediously filling out each one keystroke by keystroke. One site that I've had some good leads from is Indeed.com

Monster and HotJobs are so full of hucksters that they have very little office work for me.

Lisanne

I wanted to add that you could have a special folder in your browser's Favorites section called JobSites where you keep links to the job websites you use.

Like Moonpi, I find Hotjobs - also CareerLink - to be full of scam artists and also people inviting you to interview - for their sales jobs. Often they don't even want to tell you what product you'd be selling, and salary isn't a feature. You either work on commission or you pay for a "starter kit" and then work on commission. IGNORE THESE.

Unlike Moonpi, Monster has always been a major source of job leads for me. My resume is on there (with my contact info set to Confidential, so interested employers and agencies have to email Monster and Monster redirects their emails to me. I can then weed out the junk ones, of which there are few.

How helpful it is for you may depend on your field. I'm in IT, and IT employers are very used to posting jobs and searching for candidates this way. That probably isn't as true for some of the more traditional industries. (Now, having said that, I've gone for months seeing no job posts at all and getting no responses at all when I've sent out feelers. It's been almost 2 years that I've been unemployed.)

Sorry to see you're in Michigan, where things are so hard. You and MollieSue both. What kind of work do you ladies do? And Maride & anyone else?

By the way, carrieg, it may feel overwhelming right now, but once you set up your job hunting system, doing the recordkeeping actually makes things easier.