My Favorite Tools for Job Hunting
Job hunting sucks. But I love finding great tools across the web--including job hunting resources!
These tools from my bookmarks are ones I keep going back to. Using these, I find the hunting process goes smoother. They keep you organized and helping you shine in your resume and interviews.
Here are my favorite tools for job hunting:
https://50waystogetajob.com/ - The job-hunting process is overwhelming. Not only do you face constant rejection, but there’s so much to do with getting started in the first place! 50 Ways to Get a Job is a checklist of 50 activities for different parts of the job hunting journey.
https://monkeylearn.com/word-cloud/ - You gotta hit those keywords to beat the algorithm. That way an actual person sees your resume, right? Post the job description into the WordCloud generator to get a good idea of which words to use in your resume.
https://www.powerthesaurus.org/ - Online advice for resume writing is rampant. My go to’s are to tell little stories using STAR, include quantifying numbers, and to use power statements and words. I’m not going to pretend I have the formula for the best resume figured out. What I can help with is amping up the pathos of your sentences through an online tool.
For power words, if you use the same word too many times, it becomes stale. Sentences like “utilized best practices” and “utilized frameworks” become background noise from the resume stack pile. Try replacing one or more with something evoking action, e.g. conducted, or a bit more specific, e.g. practiced. If you’re feeling adventurous, try one that implies your potential capabilities, e.g. directed.
I’m a bit of a word nerd, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, but give the site a go. It’s fun finding creative ways to say “utilized agile methodologies.”
https://www.interviewbit.com/practice/ - This is one for my software engineering friends. Once you’ve gotten your application past the algorithm, you’ll have to interview! Aside from the behavioral, there’s the technical, and I hope you’ve been doing your daily Codewars/Leetcode! If not, the best time to start is now. Along with the usual sites to practice coding, there’s InterviewBit. It’s a website dedicated to technical interviews. There are study guides, exercises, contests, and mock interviews. Best of all, it’s free!
Networking and Job Hunting Notion Template - One of the best ways to find a job is through networking. I use @leonnoel’s method of networking. First, you put together a wishlist of companies, and then you find people who work there. Next, you get to know them—try doing a coffee chat—and just become friends.
If a position happens to open up in their company, ask them for a referral before applying.
To keep track of all of this, I created a Notion template. And I’m more than happy to share this with you! There are 3 sections: a job application tracker, a hitlist tracker, and a network contact management system. I’m new at Notion creation, so let me know if you come across any snags. I’ll get right to fixing it.
Bonus:https://huntr.co/ - If you don’t like Notion, Huntr is an alternative for keeping track of job applications. The free version has a limited number of job applications, unfortunately, which is why I ended up creating my own. If that’s not an issue for you, then Huntr is an amazing tracker.
If you end up using these tools, let me know what you think!
Christine “Banana” LuBean