Ok, this may sound like I’m getting paid to advertise this service but I’m not. If any of you have heard my shows on BlogTalkRadio, you know if I come across some helpful and informative sites to help you with your job search, I tell you about them. This is one of those cases.
A couple of days ago, I discovered that @GLHoffman (Twitter ID) has incorporated a new feature on his site, LinkUp called WorkSearch. It’s pretty darn cool and I wanted to share it with you. I think it’s a valuable tool to have during your job hunt and in ways that I don’t even think Mr. Hoffman realized…or maybe he did. 
As some of you may know, LinkUp is a site in which companies can link up with his pages to advertise their job openings directly from their own company site. So, if you see a job opening on LinkUp and click it for a description, you will be directed to the company’s website (within LinkUp) for all the specifics of that job posting.
The advantage to this type of site is that it keeps track of the job openings at the company and will take them down as soon as the company removes them from their site so you’re not applying for a job that is no longer open.
Another nice reassurance with LinkUp is that you don’t have to go through a third party or respond to an “unknown” party to find out specifics about the position. Since companies have these job postings on their site to start with, you will know exactly who is posting the opportunity without running the risk of blindly sending your personal information into cyberspace and who knows where. All good.
While not ALL job openings of every single company in every single city are linked to him, it is a great place to start your search and his network is growing. You can search within your zip code, your city, your state or by position title or even by company! If a job posting is advertised on a company’s website and is using LinkUp’s services, you’ll be directed to the posting immediately.
Note: this new feature uses a special security program, Oauth to sign in through a variety of sources, Yahoo, Twitter, etc.. As you know, I am always hesitant about allowing another site access to my information but after reading how this works and what sort of information it uses, I was reassured.
Now onto the good stuff about this WorkSearch feature. This is something that will help you keep track of your daily and weekly progress, something I’ve highly recommended while job hunting, (see my post What Have You Done Today to Get Yourself Hired?). It allows you to set the amount of time you want to spend job hunting. Although you can set it for as much as 5 hours, I would recommend no more than 1 hour before taking a break. You can get overwhelmed or burned out even after an hour looking for jobs, so remember those breaks!
This is why WorkSearch is very helpful. You know how easily time flies on the computer, you click and click and click and before you know it, 2 hours has gone by! If you only have 15 or 30 minutes to search before running errands, during a lunch break (if you’re employed but looking), making an appointment or whatever, you can set the timer and a pleasant ‘alarm’ will sound when you are done. This keeps you focused, aware of your time and how you spend it.
One tip in using WorkSearch: once you click Start, make sure you open up a new window to www.linkup.com to begin your search. Otherwise, it will not open a new window and will completely boggle the program. Trust me, I did that and when I went back to the WorkSearch page, it stated I had been searching for 18 hours and some minutes. There is a note warning you of this once you click Start: “Closing this window without ending will result in time not being properly recorded.” They are correct. lol
Another tip in using this tool is to jot down how many job openings you click through to further investigate. Just make hashtags on a piece of paper as you go along to note how many jobs caught your eye and you clicked through for specifics. Also, make a quick note of how many positions you applied for online (if you choose to do that). At the end of your session, it will show you a table and you click, “Record Your Success” where you can enter how many jobs you looked into and how many applications you sent in.
What’s nice about this is that you can always go back into this table and edit it should you choose to apply for a job the ‘old-fashioned’ way (mailing a resume or visiting the company itself) and keep track of ALL of your efforts whether or not you were actually using LinkUp!
And this is where Mr. Hoffman may not have thought this tool could be expanded upon. But if he did, kudos for him! I even set this timer as I’m writing this blog entry and noted it as such when the timer went off! You can utilize the timer feature every time you actively research, apply for, prepare for a job interview AND use LinkUp’s services during your job search. How cool is that?
Keeping track of your efforts in such a visually tangible way day by day, week by week will definitely keep your spirits up and your momentum going! You won’t duplicate your efforts because you can type in exactly which jobs you applied for at which companies in the Notes section and this will help you follow through with them! Wonderful!
I encourage you to play with this site and make it work for you in your job hunt. There are a few little things I think need to be tweaked (I’m still playing with it to see if they’re glitches or I’m not working with them properly), but all in all, it’s a great tool to help you keep track of your progress.
When you can click on a table and show someone (your spouse, your network, your support group, and most importantly, yourself) exactly how much time and effort you are putting into your job search, you will be encouraged and empowered.*
Lisa
*If you come across any site or tool which you feel really helps you with your job search, please let me know! I love sharing information.
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