Tip of the week: A more efficient job search

Looking for a new job can be a job in and of itself. If your goal for 2012 is to find a new job or more client work, today’s Tip will help you search more places in less time so that you can focus on what really matters—winning the job you want.

Create a Job Search Dashboard

I’ve been using iGoogle as my homepage for years now. Google offers all sorts of apps, called gadgets, that you can put on your personalized iGoogle page. You can get news updates and weather reports, read e-mail, catch up with your social network, you name it. My page includes gadgets for Todoist, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, and several social media platforms to help keep me organized and informed.

You aren’t limited to one page, either. You can create tabs for your iGoogle page and fill them with even more gadgets. A couple of years ago, I read an article about creating a tab and filling it with RSS feeds for job searches. Any site that lets you save a job search and create an RSS feed for that search can be added to your iGoogle page. All your feeds are in one place, where you can scan them quickly, clicking only on the ones that sound promising. It’s a brilliant timesaver.

To set up your dashboard:

1. If you don’t have one already, set up a Google account. Go to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount to sign up.
2. Create an iGoogle page at http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html. If you already have an iGoogle page, go to the left navigation bar, click the down arrow next to “Home,” and select “Add a Tab.” Name the tab and click “OK.”
3. Click on the “Add gadgets” link:
   
4. Click on the “Gadgets” tab, and then click on “Add feed or gadget” at the bottom of the left nav bar:
   
5. Add the RSS feed URL to a saved job alert and click “Add”:
   
6. Repeat until all your feeds are on your page. You can move around the feeds until you get an order that suits you. You should have a page that looks something like this:
   

You could do this same thing in any feed reader program, including Google Reader. But I like the layout of the iGoogle dashboard. I can see several boxes at once, without scrolling, so I can scan items quickly.

What do you wish you could do better or faster in a job search? Let us know in the comments below.